Wrong assessable status makes reassessment notice void; defect is not cured by a return filed in response.

A reassessment notice issued under section 34 in the wrong assessable status is void where the assessee was treated as an individual instead of a Hindu undivided family, because the two are separate units of assessment. Proceedings founded on such a notice are without jurisdiction, and a return filed in response does not cure the defect. The first notice and the assessment based on it were therefore invalid and ultra vires, while the assessment made under the later valid notice was sustainable.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment proceedings and the assessment made pursuant to the notice issued under section 34 of the Income-tax Act, 1922 were valid when the first notice had been issued in the wrong status of the assessee.

Analysis: The notice under section 34 was issued on the basis that the assessee was an individual, and the sanction for initiating proceedings was also obtained on that basis. The correct status of the assessee was Hindu undivided family. Under the Act, an individual and a Hindu undivided family are separate units of assessment, and a notice issued in the wrong status is illegal. A return filed in response to such an invalid notice does not cure the defect, and proceedings founded on that notice are without jurisdiction. The Income-tax Officer was therefore entitled to ignore the first notice and the return filed under it.

Conclusion: The first notice and the proceedings under it were invalid and ultra vires, while the assessment made pursuant to the second notice was valid and sustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where reassessment proceedings under section 34 are initiated in the wrong assessable status, the notice is void and any proceedings taken under it are without jurisdiction; such defect is not cured by a return filed in response to that invalid notice.

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