Invalid reassessment notice cannot sustain proceedings where supporting material arose only after issue of the notice.

A notice initiating reassessment under section 21 of the U.P. Trade Tax Act must be supported by relevant material existing at the time of issue; where the verifying material was received only later, the notice is invalid. Because the notice itself was unlawful, the reassessment proceedings founded on it could not stand, and the rule that a valid reassessment notice displaces the original assessment did not apply. A subsequent retrospective amendment to section 21 did not cure the defect in the notice on these facts. The impugned appellate orders and the assessment order were therefore set aside.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under section 21 of the U.P. Trade Tax Act was valid when no material had been received on the date of its issue, and whether the assessment proceedings founded on such notice could stand.

Analysis: The notice under section 21 was issued on the same day as the assessment order, but the verification material relied upon by the assessing authority was received only later. A notice for initiation of reassessment proceedings must be supported by relevant material existing at the time of issue. A notice issued without such material is invalid. The consequence of a valid notice wiping out the original assessment does not apply where the notice itself is unlawful. The subsequent retrospective amendment to section 21 did not cure the defect in the notice in the present case.

Conclusion: The notice under section 21 was invalid, and the reassessment proceedings could not be sustained. The impugned appellate orders and the assessment order were liable to be set aside.

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