Special reopening limitation under section 34(1A) prevails over later general amendment unless repeal is clear and express.

Section 34(1A) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 was a special reopening provision for specified assessment years and carried its own terminal date for issuing notices. The 1956 amendment to the general reopening power in section 34(1)(a) broadened that general power, but it did not expressly repeal section 34(1A) or show a clear intention to override it. On harmonious construction, the special limitation continued to govern cases within section 34(1A)'s field, so notices for such years could not be validated under the amended general provision when no notice had been issued under section 34(1A) by 31 March 1956.

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Issues: Whether notices issued under section 34 of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 for escaped income relating to years falling within section 34(1A) were barred by limitation and invalid when no notice had been issued under that provision on or before 31 March 1956, and whether the 1956 amendment to section 34(1)(a) displaced section 34(1A).

Analysis: Section 34(1A) was a special provision designed for reopening assessments for specified years ending between 1 September 1939 and 31 March 1946, and it contained its own express terminal date for issuing notices. The later amendment to section 34(1)(a) in 1956 made the general reopening power broader, but it did not expressly repeal section 34(1A) or show a clear intention to override that special provision. Applying harmonious construction and the principle that general words do not repeal special legislation by implication, the special limitation attached to section 34(1A) continued to govern cases falling within its scope.

Conclusion: The notices could not be validated under the amended general provision of section 34(1)(a) for years covered by section 34(1A) when no notice had been issued under section 34(1A) by 31 March 1956; the notices were therefore invalid.

Ratio Decidendi: A later general amendment does not impliedly repeal or override an earlier special reopening provision unless the legislative intention to do so is clear and unmistakable, and the special limitation attached to that provision continues to control cases within its field.

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