Invalid section 142(1) notice before section 139(2) service cannot sustain best judgment assessment or defeat section 146 relief.

A notice under section 142(1) is valid only where the assessee has already filed a return or has first been served with a notice under section 139(2). Where the section 142(1) notice was issued before any section 139(2) notice, the defect was fundamental and a later reminder could not cure it. In the absence of a valid notice, there was no default to justify best judgment assessment under section 144, and the assessee's application under section 146 had to be accepted. The assessment was therefore cancelled.

---

---

Issues: Whether a notice under section 142(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 could sustain when it was issued before any notice under section 139(2) had been served, and whether such defect invalidated the best judgment assessment and entitled the assessee to reopening under section 146.

Analysis: A notice under section 142(1) can be issued only to a person who has either made a return or to whom a notice under section 139(2) has been issued. The initial notice under section 142(1) predated the notice under section 139(2) and was therefore invalid from the outset. A later reminder could not cure the foundational defect in the original notice. In the absence of a valid notice under section 142(1), there was no default and the invocation of best judgment assessment under section 144 could not stand. The assessee's application under section 146 was accordingly liable to be accepted.

Conclusion: The assessment was cancelled, the application under section 146 was allowed, and the assessee succeeded on the validity of the notice and consequential assessment.

---