Valid service of section 148 notice is jurisdictional; reassessment fails where service on an authorised company representative is not proved.

A notice under section 148 is a jurisdictional prerequisite to reassessment and must be validly served on the assessee company in accordance with section 282, namely on the principal officer or an authorised recipient. Where the record does not prove service on such a person, and the relied-upon authority does not extend to acceptance of the section 148 notice, the defect is not cured by the assessee's participation in the proceedings. The reassessment is then founded on invalid service of the statutory notice and is without jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether the notice issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was validly served on the assessee company, and whether reassessment framed on the basis of such service was without jurisdiction.

Analysis: The notice under section 148 is a jurisdictional notice and must be served on the assessee before reassessment can be made. In the case of a company, section 282 requires service on the principal officer, or on a person duly empowered to accept service. The material on record did not establish that the notice was served on the principal officer or on any person shown to be authorized to receive it. The power of attorney relied upon by the Revenue related to proceedings under section 143(2) and, on the facts found, did not cover service of the notice under section 148 on the relevant date. Since no valid authority in favour of the alleged recipient was proved, participation in the proceedings could not cure the defect in service. The reassessment was therefore founded on invalid service of the statutory notice.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was not validly served, and the reassessment order passed in consequence was without jurisdiction and void.

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