Distinct taxable status cannot be substituted without mandatory notice before assessment in the new status.

An assessment made in the status of an individual cannot be converted into an assessment in the status of a body of individuals without issuing the statutory notice required for that distinct assessable unit. A body of individuals is a separate taxable status under the Income-tax Act, so notice inviting a return from that unit is mandatory before assessment can be made in that status. The attempt to sustain the assessment by changing the status without such notice was therefore invalid and was held against the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the assessment made in the status of an individual could be converted into an assessment in the status of a body of individuals without notice to that body of individuals.

Analysis: The assessee had originally been assessed as an individual on the share income from the firm. The Tribunal, while holding that assessment in the status of an individual was not sustainable, altered the status to a body of individuals consisting of the widow and her minor children. The governing principle is that a person cannot be assessed in a status different from the one actually in issue without the statutory notice required for that status. Since a body of individuals is a distinct assessable unit under the Income-tax Act, the proposed assessment in that status could be made only after notice inviting a return from that unit.

Conclusion: The conversion of the assessment into one in the status of a body of individuals without notice was invalid and was held against the Revenue and in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A distinct assessable status cannot be imposed without issuing the notice prescribed for that status, and an assessment made in an incorrect status cannot be simply converted into another status without complying with the mandatory procedural requirement.

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