Reassessment cannot be annulled on an unproved earlier notice claim where material facts were not disclosed and record was incomplete.

A reassessment cannot be annulled merely on an unproved claim that an earlier notice under section 148 had been served, particularly where the assessee did not disclose material facts in the relevant returns and the surrounding record did not support invalidity. The first appellate authority was found to have overlooked material events, including a duplicate return that contained no disclosure of the relevant trucks, so the annulment of the reassessments was not sustainable on the material considered. The matter was therefore remitted to the first appellate authority for a fresh decision on merits, leaving the substantive controversy open.

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Issues: Whether the reassessments for the two assessment years were rightly annulled on the ground that they were merely a change of opinion and that earlier reassessment proceedings had become time-barred.

Analysis: The assessments had been reopened after the assessee's disclosures were not reflected in the earlier returns and the assessee failed to prove that any notice under section 148 had in fact been served in 1978. On the record, the claim of an earlier valid reassessment notice was unsubstantiated, and the first appellate authority also overlooked material events, including a duplicate return for one year that contained no disclosure of the relevant trucks. In these circumstances, the reopening could not be invalidated merely on the basis assumed by the first appellate authority, and the conclusion that the reassessments were null and void was not sustainable on the material then considered.

Conclusion: The cancellation of the reassessments was held to be and the matter was sent back to the first appellate authority for a fresh decision on merits.

Final Conclusion: The Revenue succeeded in getting the annulment set aside, but the substantive controversy was left open for fresh adjudication before the first appellate authority.

Ratio Decidendi: A reassessment cannot be annulled on the basis of an unproved assertion that an earlier notice had been served, especially where the assessee failed to disclose material facts in the relevant returns and the surrounding sequence of events does not support the plea of invalidity.

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