Special reopening return under section 34(1A) does not bar notice under section 34(1)(a) for the same years.

A return filed under section 34(1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 is a special and separate reopening return for specified war years and does not operate as a return under section 22. Because section 34(1)(a) applies to cases of omission or failure to make a return under section 22, or failure fully and truly to disclose material facts, a return under section 34(1A) does not prevent the revenue from issuing notice under section 34(1)(a) for the same assessment years. The challenge to the notice therefore failed, and the section 34(1)(a) machinery remained available.

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Issues: (i) Whether a return filed under section 34(1A) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 barred the issue of a notice under section 34(1)(a) for the same assessment years.

Analysis: Section 34(1)(a) operates where there has been omission or failure to make a return under section 22 or failure fully and truly to disclose material facts, and it is linked to the ordinary return procedure under section 22. Section 34(1A), by contrast, creates a special and separate reopening procedure for specified war years, and the return filed under that provision does not stand as a return under section 22. The absence in section 34(1A) of the words that make the section 34(1)(a) machinery applicable as if the notice were under section 22, together with the distinct statutory scheme, shows that a return under section 34(1A) does not prevent the revenue from invoking section 34(1)(a).

Conclusion: A return filed under section 34(1A) did not bar issuance of notice under section 34(1)(a); the challenge to the notice failed and the appeal succeeded.

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