Late return after assessment order is signed cannot override a completed best judgment assessment under section 22(3).

A return furnished after the assessing officer signed and completed the assessment, even if before service of the order, was not a return filed before assessment under section 22(3) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. The assessment under section 23(4) was treated as made on the date the order was signed, because the statutory permission to file a return or revised return ended automatically once assessment was made. The rule that communication or knowledge may matter for limitation in challenging adverse orders was held irrelevant to this filing window. The late return could not displace the completed best judgment assessment, which remained valid.

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Issues: Whether, for the purposes of section 22(3) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, a return filed after the assessment order was made but before it was served could be treated as a return filed before the assessment was made.

Analysis: Section 22(3) permits a return or revised return to be furnished at any time before assessment is made. The assessment under section 23(4) was completed on the date the assessing officer signed and made the order, not on the date of its communication to the assessee. The principle that knowledge or communication may be relevant to limitation for challenging an adverse order was held inapplicable, because the statutory grace period in section 22(3) ended automatically once the assessment was made. The return filed after the assessment date therefore could not displace the completed best judgment assessment.

Conclusion: The return filed on 15 February 1960 was out of time, and the assessment made on 11 February 1960 remained valid.

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