Mandatory section 143(2) notice is required in reassessment where the original return is treated as the return under section 148.

Where an assessee treats the original return as the return in response to a notice under section 148, service of notice under section 143(2) within the prescribed time is mandatory before a reassessment can be completed. The absence of that notice is not a mere procedural irregularity; it goes to the root of the reassessment and affects jurisdiction. On that basis, the reassessment was held invalid and the Revenue's challenge failed.

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Issues: Whether reassessment proceedings could be sustained when the assessee, having informed the Assessing Officer that the original return be treated as the return in response to notice under section 148, was not served notice under section 143(2) within the prescribed time.

Analysis: The assessee had filed its original return under section 139 and, in response to the reopening notice, requested that the same return be treated as the return in compliance with section 148. In such a situation, the requirement of notice under section 143(2) applied with full force before framing reassessment. The absence of such notice was not a mere irregularity but went to the root of the reassessment proceedings and affected jurisdiction. The Tribunal applied the principle that the statutory notice under section 143(2) is mandatory where the return is treated as filed in response to section 148.

Conclusion: The reassessment was invalid for want of notice under section 143(2), and the Revenue's challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessee treats the original return as the return in response to a notice under section 148, the Assessing Officer must serve a notice under section 143(2) within the prescribed time, failing which the reassessment is void.

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