Mandatory tax filing procedure bars relief where Form IIIB was issued beyond the prescribed period.

The amended Rules 12-A, 12-B and 12-C of the U.P. Trade Tax Rules, 1948 were treated as mandatory, so the prescribed procedure for filing Form IIIB could not be relaxed by equity or by reading down the rules. A Form IIIB issued for a transaction beyond two years from the relevant assessment year was therefore not validly filed for the assessee's claim, and the earlier contrary precedent was held inapplicable because of the changed legal position. The permission to reopen the assessment was upheld, and the writ challenge failed, leaving remaining issues for decision by the Assessing Authority in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether permission to reopen the assessment on the ground that Form IIIB had been issued for a transaction falling beyond the prescribed period was valid in law.

Analysis: The challenged order granting permission to initiate reassessment disclosed application of mind. The amended scheme of Rules 12-A, 12-B and 12-C of the U.P. Trade Tax Rules, 1948 was held to be mandatory, and the prescribed filing procedure for Form IIIB could not be relaxed by reading down the rules. On that basis, a Form IIIB relating to a transaction beyond two years from the assessment year in which it was issued could not be treated as validly filed for the assessee's claim. The earlier decision relied upon by the petitioner was held inapplicable in view of the changed legal position. The Court also reiterated that equity has no place in taxing laws and that a statutory rule is not unreasonable merely because it operates harshly in a particular case.

Conclusion: The permission to reopen the assessment was upheld and the writ petition was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the reassessment authorization failed, leaving it open to the Assessing Authority to decide the assessee's remaining contentions on merits in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where tax rules prescribe a mandatory procedure for use of a statutory form, non-compliance with that procedure cannot be cured by equity or by reliance on an earlier contrary view.

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