Validity of tax notice served after holiday upheld under the General Clauses Act, preserving the assessment.

A notice under section 143(2) served on the next working day after the last date fell on a Sunday was valid, because section 10 of the General Clauses Act treats an act due on a closed day as timely when done on the next open day. The fact that the notice was digitally signed on the holiday did not alter that statutory consequence. The assessment under section 143(3) was therefore not invalid for want of timely service.

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Issues: Whether the notice under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, served on the next working day after the last date fell on a holiday, was valid and whether the assessment under section 143(3) could be invalidated on that ground.

Analysis: The last date for service of notice fell on a Sunday, which was a closed day. Section 10 of the General Clauses Act permits an act required to be done by a certain day to be treated as done in time if performed on the next day when the office is open. The fact that the notice was digitally signed on the holiday did not displace the statutory consequence of service on the next working day. The holiday could not be treated as an ordinary working day for depriving the Revenue of the benefit of the statutory rule.

Conclusion: The notice under section 143(2) was validly served in time, and the assessment under section 143(3) was not invalid for want of timely service.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the last date for a statutory act falls on a holiday, compliance on the next working day is valid under section 10 of the General Clauses Act.

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