Post-return notice for accounts production can trigger best judgment assessment when the taxpayer defaults.

A notice requiring production of accounts and documents under Section 22(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 was not limited to the pre-return stage; it could validly be served after a return was filed because it formed part of the machinery for testing the correctness of that return. The language of Sections 22 and 23 did not exclude post-return service, and reading such a restriction into the scheme would undermine measures designed to prevent fraud and concealment. Failure to produce the register and documents called for therefore amounted to default under Section 23(4), authorising a best judgment assessment.

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Issues: Whether a notice requiring production of accounts and documents under Section 22(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 could validly be served after a return had been filed, and whether failure to comply with such notice justified a best judgment assessment under Section 23(4).

Analysis: The notice under Section 22(4) was held to be part of the machinery for testing the correctness of a return and was not confined to the pre-return stage. The language of Sections 22 and 23 contained no limitation excluding service of the notice after a return. Reading such a restriction into the provisions would defeat the scheme intended to prevent fraud and concealment and would render the assessment machinery unworkable. The failure to produce the register and documents called for therefore amounted to default within the meaning of Section 23(4).

Conclusion: The Income-tax Officer had jurisdiction to make the assessment to the best of his judgment, and the answer on the first part of the question was in the affirmative and on the second in the negative, in favour of the Revenue.

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