Reopening notice invalid where the return was still pending and no assessment had been completed; missing documents did not create escaped income.

A notice under section 148 could not validly reopen a matter where the assessee's return for the relevant year was still pending and no assessment had been completed, because income cannot be treated as having escaped assessment while assessment proceedings remain alive. The fact that supporting documents were missing did not create jurisdiction to reopen; the proper course for an incomplete return was to issue a notice under section 139(9) to cure the defect. The reopening notice was therefore without jurisdiction and was quashed.

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Issues: Whether a notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was valid when the assessee's return for the relevant assessment year was pending and no assessment had been completed, and whether the alleged incompleteness of the return affected the jurisdiction to reopen.

Analysis: The return for the assessment year was treated as pending, and income cannot be said to have escaped assessment while assessment proceedings are still pending. The absence of certain accompanying documents did not convert the matter into a case of escaped assessment so as to justify reopening under section 148. Section 139(9) contemplated notice to cure deficiencies in an incomplete return, and no such course had been adopted.

Conclusion: The notice under section 148 was without jurisdiction and was quashed, with the writ petition allowed.

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