Belated return filed before assessment must be considered; ignoring it makes a best judgment assessment unsustainable.

A return filed after the prescribed date but before assessment was required to be taken into account under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, because the Act contemplates belated filing and contains no bar to acceptance before assessment. Once the return was on record, the assessing authority could not proceed on the basis that no return existed. Ignoring the return in a best judgment assessment rendered the assessment unsustainable and vitiated the order in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the Sales Tax Officer was justified in ignoring a return filed by the assessee before the ex parte best judgment assessment was made.

Analysis: The return had been filed and taken on record before the assessment order was passed. There is no prohibition in the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, against acceptance and consideration of a return filed after the prescribed date but before assessment. Section 63(1)(c) shows that belated filing is contemplated by the Act. Once the return was on record, the assessing authority could not proceed as if no return had been filed. The failure to consider the return rendered the best judgment assessment unsustainable.

Conclusion: The Sales Tax Officer was not justified in ignoring the return, and the assessment was vitiated in favour of the assessee.

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