Voluntary return under section 22(3) cannot trigger section 22(4) notice; assessment for non-compliance failed.

A return furnished voluntarily under section 22(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 could not be treated as a return under section 22(1) for invoking notice under section 22(4), because section 22(4) expressly applied only to returns under sub-sections (1) and (2) and omitted sub-section (3). The Court treated that omission as deliberate and refused to extend the machinery provision by implication, noting that the Act contained other provisions for enquiry and production of documents. Notice under section 22(4) was therefore invalid, and assessment under section 23(4) for non-compliance with that notice was unjustified; the appeal was dismissed in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether a return furnished under section 22(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 could be treated as a return under section 22(1) for the purpose of serving a notice under section 22(4), and whether failure to comply with such notice could justify an assessment under section 23(4).

Analysis: The scheme of section 22 distinguishes between returns furnished in response to the general or individual notices under sub-sections (1) and (2), and a voluntary or supplementary return furnished under sub-section (3). Sub-section (4) expressly refers to returns under sub-sections (1) and (2) but omits sub-section (3). The Court held that the omission was significant and that a voluntary return under section 22(3) could not be recharacterised as a return under section 22(1) for the purpose of invoking section 22(4). The Court also noted that the Act contained other machinery provisions enabling enquiry and production of documents, so the provision would not become unworkable if section 22(4) were confined to the returns expressly mentioned in it.

Conclusion: A return filed under section 22(3) could not be treated as a return under section 22(1) for the purpose of section 22(4), the notice issued under section 22(4) was invalid, and assessment under section 23(4) on the footing of non-compliance with that notice was unjustified. The appeal was accordingly dismissed, in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing provision confers a special machinery power by expressly referring only to specified categories of returns, that power cannot be extended by implication to a different category of return not mentioned in the provision.

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