Prior regular assessment bars double taxation in block assessment; appeal maintainability must be tested after verifying prior tax payment.

Income already assessed in regular assessment cannot again be brought to tax in block assessment under Chapter XIV-B, because the undisclosed income computation must exclude amounts reflected in the normal assessment record. An appellate authority should not reject an appeal as unadmitted under section 249(4)(a) merely on the basis of the block return; it must first verify the assessee's claim that the disputed income had already been offered and taxed in regular assessment. The matter was remitted for verification of that claim and for a fresh decision on maintainability and merits.

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Issues: Whether income already assessed in regular assessment could be excluded from block assessment under Chapter XIV-B, and whether an appeal before the first appellate authority could be rejected as unadmitted under section 249(4)(a) without first verifying the assessee's claim that tax on the returned undisclosed income had already been paid in regular assessment.

Analysis: The block assessment scheme does not permit inclusion of income that has already been assessed in regular assessment or is otherwise recorded in the normal books, and the computation provisions require such income to be excluded from undisclosed income. The bar against revision of a block return does not mean that the appellate authority must mechanically treat the appeal as inadmissible if the assessee asserts that the amount shown in the block return had already been offered to tax and assessed in regular proceedings. The appellate authority must examine the factual claim on merits, because if the tax on the same income had already been paid in regular assessment, the requirement in section 249(4)(a) may stand satisfied. At the same time, if the factual assertion fails, dismissal as unadmitted remains open.

Conclusion: The matter was remitted to the appellate authority for verification of the assessee's claim and for a decision on maintainability and merits accordingly.

Final Conclusion: The decision preserved the assessee's opportunity to establish that the amount in dispute had already suffered regular assessment and tax payment, while leaving the appellate authority free to reject the appeal as unadmitted if that claim was not proved.

Ratio Decidendi: Income already assessed in regular assessment cannot be again brought to tax in block assessment, and an appeal should not be rejected under section 249(4)(a) without first verifying whether the admitted tax requirement is in substance satisfied by such prior assessment and payment.

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