Late filing of return-related form cannot be rejected solely for delay after defect is cured and assessment is completed.

A procedural default in not responding to show cause notices may justify best of judgment assessment, but it does not by itself authorise rejection of a later filed return-related form solely for delay. Where the assessee subsequently cured the defect by filing Form WW and the auditor's report was not disputed on merits, the authority was required to consider the filing in accordance with the statutory scheme. The rejection of Form WW merely because it was filed beyond the prescribed period was therefore not legally sustainable, and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after accepting the form.

---

---

Issues: Whether the rejection of Form WW and the request for revised assessment on the ground of delay was legally sustainable after best of judgment assessment had been made.

Analysis: The assessee's failure to respond to the show cause notices could justify the best of judgment assessment orders. However, that default did not automatically justify rejection of the later filed Form WW and the request for revised assessment. The statutory scheme required filing of monthly returns, and the auditor's report filed after the assessment was not disputed on merits. Once the assessee cured the defect by filing Form WW, the authority could not discard it merely on the ground that it was filed beyond the prescribed period, particularly after best of judgment assessments had already been passed.

Conclusion: The rejection of Form WW was not in accordance with law and the assessee succeeded on this issue.

Final Conclusion: The writ appeals were allowed, the order refusing to take Form WW on file was set aside, and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after accepting Form WW.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural default in failing to answer show cause notices may justify best of judgment assessment, but it does not by itself permit rejection of a subsequently filed, undisputed return-related form on limitation grounds where the defect has been cured and the statutory scheme is otherwise satisfied.

---