Prepayment of admitted tax as a condition for a valid return sustained the notice and assessment despite a wrong form reference.

Prepayment of the admitted tax before furnishing the return was treated as a condition precedent to a valid return under the statutory scheme, and failure to enclose proof of such payment meant the return could be regarded in law as no return. The provision for revised returns applied only to omissions or errors in the return itself and did not cure non-compliance with the prepayment requirement. A notice in Form VI issued on that footing remained valid where the Commercial Tax Officer otherwise had jurisdiction under section 11, and a mistaken reference to the form or clause did not by itself invalidate the assessment. The reference was answered in favour of the revenue.

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Issues: Whether failure to prepay the admitted tax before filing the return made the return a nullity in law so that the dealer could be treated as having filed no return, and whether a notice in Form VI issued on that footing was valid and did not vitiate the assessment.

Analysis: The statutory scheme required a registered dealer to pay the admitted tax into the Treasury or Reserve Bank before furnishing the return and to enclose proof of payment with it. The payment was treated as a condition precedent to a valid return, while the challan was only the documentary evidence of that payment. If the admitted amount had not been prepaid, the return could not be regarded as a valid return under the Act and was therefore, in law, equivalent to no return. The provision dealing with revised returns concerned omissions or errors in the body of the return and did not extend to the statutory prepayment requirement. Even if the notice in Form VI was issued under the wrong clause, the Commercial Tax Officer had jurisdiction to proceed under section 11, and a mistaken reference to the form or clause did not invalidate the exercise of power where the authority otherwise possessed it.

Conclusion: The assessee's filing was rightly treated as no return, the notice in Form VI was valid in law, and the assessment was not invalidated by the form of the notice. The answer to the reference was therefore in favour of the revenue.

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