Valid statutory notice for reassessment fails where attendance is fixed on a public holiday and later cured too late.

A reassessment notice under section 15 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 must satisfy the statutory requirement of specifying a valid attendance date under section 14(3). A date fixed on a public holiday, when Government offices were closed, was treated as no effective date, so the notice was defective and could not found jurisdiction for reassessment. A later letter changing the hearing date did not cure the defect, because an invalid notice cannot be validated by waiver or subsequent participation, and the corrective communication was also outside the limitation period. The reassessment was therefore vitiated for want of a valid statutory notice.

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Issues: (i) Whether a notice for reassessment under section 15 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 is invalid when it requires the dealer to attend on a day that is a public holiday. (ii) Whether a subsequent letter changing the date of hearing cures the defect in such notice.

Issue (i): Whether a notice for reassessment under section 15 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 is invalid when it requires the dealer to attend on a day that is a public holiday.

Analysis: A notice under section 15 had to comply with the requirements of section 14(3), including specification of a date on which the dealer was required to attend. The Court held that the date fixed in the notice fell on a public holiday, when Government offices were closed under the applicable executive resolution and notification. A date on which attendance could not validly be required was treated as no effective date at all, and the notice was therefore defective. Since a valid notice was a condition precedent to the assumption of jurisdiction under section 15, the defect went to the root of the reassessment proceedings.

Conclusion: The notice dated 29 March 1956 was defective and invalid, and the reassessment proceedings could not stand.

Issue (ii): Whether a subsequent letter changing the date of hearing cures the defect in such notice.

Analysis: The Court held that an invalid notice cannot be validated by the assessee's participation or by waiver, because consent cannot confer jurisdiction where the statutory precondition has not been satisfied. The corrective letter was issued after expiry of the five-year limitation period applicable to proceedings in cases of concealment, and therefore it could not lawfully remedy the original defect. The later communication did not operate as a fresh valid notice within time.

Conclusion: The defect was not cured by the letter dated 18 April 1956.

Final Conclusion: The reassessment was vitiated for want of a valid statutory notice, and the Tribunal was justified in setting aside the assessment.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a reassessment provision requires a valid notice as a jurisdictional condition, a notice fixing attendance on a non-working public holiday is defective, and such defect cannot be cured after limitation by a later communication or by waiver.

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