Constructive tax notice and return obligation: statutory publication can bind non-residents and trigger the longer limitation period.

Statutory constructive notice under section 22(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 was treated as sufficient once the prescribed mode of publication was satisfied, and actual knowledge by the assessee was not required. The notice was held effective even for a non-resident, because the power to tax non-residents included the power to require a return by notice. The distinction between "omission" and "failure" under section 34 was material: non-filing of a return was treated as an omission, bringing the matter within section 34(1)(a) and its eight-year limitation period rather than section 34(1)(b).

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Issues: Whether a notice under section 22(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 constituted sufficient notice to a resident or non-resident assessee so as to impose an obligation to file a return, and whether the case therefore fell under section 34(1)(a) with an eight-year limitation period rather than under section 34(1)(b) with a four-year period.

Analysis: Section 22(1) was treated as providing constructive notice once the statutory mode of publication was satisfied. The absence of actual reading of the notice, or the fact that the assessee was a non-resident, did not negate the legal effect of such notice. The distinction drawn by section 34 between "omission" and "failure" was material: "failure" connotes breach of an obligation, whereas "omission" simply refers to the non-filing of a return. Since no return had in fact been made, the case was held to involve an omission within section 34(1)(a). The argument that the Act did not extend to a non-resident was rejected, as the power to tax non-residents included the power to require a return by notice.

Conclusion: The notice under section 22(1) was effective against the assessee, the case fell under section 34(1)(a), and the eight-year limitation period applied. The assessments were within time and valid.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered against the assessee on the limitation question, with the assessments upheld as timely and binding.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutorily prescribed constructive notice under section 22(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 is sufficient to fasten the obligation to file a return on an assessee, including a non-resident, and non-filing of such return constitutes an omission bringing the case within section 34(1)(a).

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