Mandatory section 143(2) notice in reassessment proceedings was required; reassessment was quashed for non-compliance.

Where a return is filed in response to a notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, issuance of notice under section 143(2) before framing reassessment is mandatory. The absence of that notice was treated as a fatal jurisdictional defect, and the reassessment was held void ab initio. The fact that the return was filed beyond the time mentioned in the section 148 notice did not cure the non-compliance or sustain the assessment. The reassessment was therefore quashed in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether reassessment framed without issuing notice under section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 after the assessee filed a return in response to notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 was valid.

Analysis: The return filed in response to the reassessment notice attracted the mandatory requirement of notice under section 143(2) before completion of assessment. The absence of such notice was treated as a fatal jurisdictional defect, and the reassessment could not be sustained merely because the return was filed beyond the time indicated in the notice under section 148. The decision followed the settled view that once a return is filed pursuant to section 148, the procedural safeguard under section 143(2) must be complied with, failing which the assessment is void ab initio.

Conclusion: The reassessment was held unsustainable and was quashed in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The addition-made reassessment stood invalid for non-issuance of the mandatory statutory notice, and the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a return is filed in response to a notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, issuance of notice under section 143(2) is mandatory before framing reassessment, and non-compliance vitiates the assessment as void ab initio.

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