Estate Duty reassessment commences only on communicated notice; internal directions cannot satisfy limitation under the three-year rule.

Reassessment under section 59 of the Estate Duty Act commences only when notice requiring the accountable person to submit an account is actually communicated; a mere internal direction or order-sheet endorsement is not enough. Because section 73A bars reassessment unless proceedings begin within three years from the original assessment, the timing of valid notice is ative for limitation. On the facts stated, the notice issued on 28-8-1974 did not validly start proceedings within the permitted period, so the reassessment was time-barred and invalid.

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Issues: Whether reassessment proceedings under the Estate Duty Act commenced within the three-year limit prescribed by section 73A, and whether a mere internal direction to issue notice under section 59 was sufficient to start reassessment proceedings.

Analysis: Section 73A bars reassessment proceedings unless they are commenced within three years from the date of the original assessment. The statutory mechanism in section 59 requires the Controller, after forming the requisite belief regarding escaped assessment, to take the further positive step of requiring the accountable person to submit an account. The commencement of reassessment is therefore linked to communication of notice under section 59 to the accountable person, not merely to an internal order-sheet endorsement or administrative direction. The provisions were treated as materially different from penalty or recovery provisions under the Income-tax Act, where the statutory scheme did not require the same kind of direct communication as a condition for commencement.

Conclusion: The reassessment proceedings were time-barred and the notice under section 59 issued on 28-8-1974 did not validly commence proceedings within the period allowed by section 73A. The reassessment was invalid and was cancelled in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: For reassessment under section 59 of the Estate Duty Act, proceedings commence only when notice requiring submission of an account is issued to the accountable person; an internal decision or direction to issue notice is insufficient for the purpose of limitation under section 73A.

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