Voluntary return timing controls assessment validity where the statutory period for making assessment has already expired.

A voluntary return under section 22(3) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 is valid only if filed within the period during which assessment can lawfully be made. The Court treated the time limit in section 34(3) as a statutory restriction on the Income-tax Officer's power to complete an assessment, which the assessee cannot waive. The charging provisions create liability, but the assessment machinery operates only within the statute's permitted period, subject to express reopening exceptions. On the stated facts, returns filed after expiry of that period could not support valid assessments, and fresh assessments could not be made on the basis of the Commissioner's order under section 33B.

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Issues: Whether voluntary returns filed under section 22(3) after expiry of the period prescribed in section 34(3) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922 were valid, and whether fresh assessments could be made on the basis of the Commissioner's order under section 33B.

Analysis: The return filed under section 22(3) is a valid return only if it is furnished before the assessment can lawfully be made. The Court held that the time limit in section 34(3) is a statutory fetter on the power of the Income-tax Officer to complete an assessment and cannot be waived by the assessee. The charging provisions create the liability, but the machinery provisions govern the lawful exercise of assessment power; once the period under section 34(3) expires, the ordinary machinery cannot be used unless the case falls within the statutory exceptions. On the facts, the returns for the assessment years 1953-54 to 1956-57 were filed after the expiry of the relevant period, and therefore could not support valid assessments.

Conclusion: The returns were invalid, and no fresh assessments could be made on the basis of the Commissioner's order under section 33B. The answer was in the affirmative.

Ratio Decidendi: A voluntary return under section 22(3) must be filed within the period during which assessment can lawfully be made, and expiry of the period prescribed in section 34(3) bars assessment unless the statute expressly permits reopening.

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