Mandatory statutory procedure bars reassessment and remand once assessment time limits expire.

Where a taxing statute specifies the competent authority and the manner for transfer or reassessment, those requirements are mandatory and cannot be bypassed after expiry of the statutory assessment period. The Court applied the settled rule that statutory procedure must be followed in the manner prescribed, and held that the Commissioner alone could transfer proceedings under the relevant provisions. It further noted that reassessment could not be resorted to once the limitation for completing assessment had lapsed, and that the alternative provision applied only when its preconditions were met. The remand order was therefore not sustainable and the assessee succeeded.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in holding that the remand order was not warranted where the assessment had been made beyond the prescribed period and the transfer of proceedings had not been made by the competent authority.

Analysis: The reference turned on the scope of section 31, under which only the Commissioner could transfer proceedings from one authorised officer to another, read with section 3 which identified the officers empowered to act under the Act. The assessment was found to have been made without proper jurisdiction and, more importantly, the reassessment route could not be adopted once the statutory period for completing assessment had expired. Section 17(3) was also examined and held to apply only where its statutory preconditions were satisfied. The Court applied the settled principle that when a statute prescribes a particular manner for doing an act, it must be done in that manner or not at all.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was justified in holding that remand was not justified. The reference was answered in the affirmative and the assessee succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The remand order could not be sustained because the assessment and the proposed reassessment were contrary to the statutory scheme and the time limit for assessment had already expired.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the taxing statute prescribes both the competent authority and the manner in which proceedings may be transferred or reassessed, those requirements are mandatory and cannot be bypassed after expiry of the statutory limitation period.

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