Jurisdictional notice under section 143(2) must be timely; an invalid or late notice cannot sustain the assessment.

A notice under section 143(2) must be issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer within the statutory time limit; a notice issued by an officer lacking territorial jurisdiction, without transfer under section 127 or proper authorisation, does not confer valid jurisdiction. If the jurisdictional notice is served after the limitation period, the statutory precondition for assessment is not satisfied and the assessment is void.

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Issues: Whether a notice under section 143(2) issued by an Assessing Officer lacking jurisdiction was valid, and whether a later notice issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer after the statutory time limit could sustain the assessment.

Analysis: The assessee was regularly assessed at Guntur, and the territorial jurisdiction vested with the Assessing Officer at Guntur. A notice under section 143(2) issued by the officer at Siliguri, without transfer of jurisdiction under section 127 and without demonstrated authorisation under Rule 12E, could not confer jurisdiction. The subsequent notice issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer at Guntur was served after the expiry of the limitation prescribed in the proviso to section 143(2). Since service of a valid jurisdictional notice within time is a condition precedent for a valid assessment, the defect was fatal to the assessment proceedings.

Conclusion: The notice issued by the non-jurisdictional officer was invalid, the later notice was time-barred, and the assessment made under section 143(3) was bad in law and liable to be annulled.

Final Conclusion: The assessment could not be sustained because the statutory precondition of a valid notice under section 143(2) was not fulfilled, and the assessee succeeded on the jurisdiction and limitation challenge.

Ratio Decidendi: A notice under section 143(2) must be issued by the jurisdictional Assessing Officer within the statutory time limit, failing which the assessment is void and cannot be sustained.

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