Best judgment assessment may proceed without service of escaped-assessment notice when no return is filed under sales tax law.

Where no return was filed, the assessing authority could make a best judgment assessment under section 7(3) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act without prior service of a notice under section 21. Section 7(3) and section 21(1) operate in different fields: section 7(3) governs best judgment assessment on failure to file a proper return, while section 21(1) concerns escaped assessment and requires valid service of notice before reassessment can begin. Mere issuance of a section 21 notice, without service, did not bar proceedings under section 7(3). The assessments were therefore upheld.

---

---

Issues: Whether, where no return had been filed and a notice under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act had been issued but not served, the assessing authority was barred from making a best judgment assessment under section 7(3) of the Act.

Analysis: Section 7(3) and section 21(1) operate in different fields. Section 7(3) enables best judgment assessment where no return is filed or the return is incorrect or incomplete, and it does not make prior service of notice a jurisdictional condition. By contrast, section 21(1) applies to escaped assessment and requires not only issuance but valid service of notice before reassessment proceedings can validly commence. Mere issue of a notice under section 21, without service, does not foreclose the assessing authority's power to proceed under section 7(3). The cited authorities were distinguished on the ground that, in those cases, the assessment had in fact been made under section 21, whereas here the assessments were made under section 7(3).

Conclusion: The assessments under section 7(3) were valid, and the assessee's challenge failed.

---