Voluntary return under estate duty law requires independent filing; a return prompted by departmental notice remains time-barred.

A return prompted by a departmental notice is not a voluntary return for the purpose of excluding the limitation bar under section 73A of the Estate Duty Act, 1953, even if the notice itself was time-barred or otherwise invalid. The limitation applies where proceedings are initiated by the Department, and a return filed in response to such initiation remains departmental in character. On the stated facts, the notice under section 55 triggered the return, so the five-year bar continued to operate and the assessment was time-barred.

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Issues: Whether a return filed after a notice issued beyond the limitation period could be treated as a voluntary return so as to exclude the bar under section 73A of the Estate Duty Act, 1953.

Analysis: The limitation in section 73A applies to proceedings commenced by the Assistant Controller. Where a return is truly filed voluntarily by the accountable person, the proceedings are not initiated by the Department and the five-year bar does not operate. On the facts, however, the return was prompted by the notice under section 55, and a return induced by such notice cannot be characterised as voluntary merely because the notice itself was time-barred. The return therefore remained one in response to departmental initiation and did not lose that character by reason of the invalidity of the notice.

Conclusion: The return was not voluntary, the proceedings were hit by section 73A, and the assessment was time-barred; the appeal failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A return prompted by a departmental notice, even if the notice is time-barred or invalid, is not a voluntary return for the purpose of excluding the statutory limitation on commencement of estate duty proceedings.

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