Mandatory service of section 143(2) notice in block assessment: no valid notice, no valid assessment.

In block assessment proceedings, service of notice under section 143(2) is mandatory where the Assessing Officer proceeds to verify the return under section 143(3) read with section 158BC, and failure to issue or validly serve that notice is not a curable irregularity. The record contained no order-sheet entry or cogent evidence showing issue or service of notice, and the Department failed to establish valid service on the assessee through the chartered accountant. Mere appearance as an authorised representative under section 288 was insufficient to authorise receipt of notice under section 282. The block assessment was therefore illegal and void ab initio.

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Issues: Whether the block assessment was void for want of valid service of notice under section 143(2) after filing of the block return, and whether service on the chartered accountant could amount to valid service on the assessee.

Analysis: In block assessment proceedings, notice under section 143(2) is mandatory when the Assessing Officer seeks to verify the return and proceed under section 143(3) read with section 158BC. The omission to issue such notice is not a curable procedural irregularity. The record did not contain any order-sheet entry showing issue or service of the notice, and the Department failed to produce cogent evidence that the notice had in fact been issued in the normal course. The material also did not establish that the chartered accountant had any written authority to accept service on behalf of the assessee under section 282. Mere appearance as an authorised representative under section 288 was held insufficient to confer authority to receive notice. The counter-affidavit was treated as unsupported and inconsistent, and the presumption of regularity in public records could not arise in the absence of any record entry of service.

Conclusion: The mandatory notice under section 143(2) was not validly served, the block assessment order was illegal and void ab initio, and the assessee succeeded.

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