Valuation Officer reference under wealth-tax law is invalid unless assessment or reassessment proceedings are pending.

Section 16A(1) of the Wealth-tax Act permits a reference to the Valuation Officer only when assessment or reassessment proceedings are actually pending for the relevant year. Where some assessments had already been completed and no proceeding was pending on the date of reference, the statutory precondition was not met, so the reference lacked jurisdictional and was invalid. The legal position stated is that valuation reference power cannot be exercised in the absence of live assessment or reassessment proceedings.

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Issues: Whether a reference to the Valuation Officer under Section 16A(1) of the Wealth-tax Act could validly be made when no assessment or reassessment proceeding was pending for the relevant assessment years.

Analysis: The reference power under Section 16A(1) was examined in the context of the admitted position that, for the assessment years in question, some assessments had already been completed and for the remaining years no assessment or reassessment proceeding was pending on the date of reference. The governing principle applied was that such a reference is permissible only when proceedings for assessment or reassessment are actually pending. In the absence of such pending proceedings, the statutory precondition for making the reference was not satisfied.

Conclusion: The reference was held invalid and the challenge succeeded in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: A reference to the Valuation Officer under Section 16A(1) cannot be made unless assessment or reassessment proceedings are pending for the concerned year.

Ratio Decidendi: The power to refer valuation under Section 16A(1) arises only during the pendency of assessment or reassessment proceedings, and a reference made without that jurisdictional foundation is invalid.

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