Mandatory section 143(2) notice in reassessment where a return is filed under section 148; omission makes the reassessment invalid.

Once an assessee files a return in response to notice under section 148, the Assessing Officer must follow the reassessment procedure, including issuance of notice under section 143(2). A belated return cannot be treated as non est so as to dispense with this jurisdictional requirement, and failure to issue the notice is not a curable irregularity. On the facts noted, the reassessment completed without section 143(2) notice was held invalid and void ab initio.

---

---

Issues: Whether reassessment under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is invalid when the assessee has filed a return in response to notice under section 148 but the Assessing Officer fails to issue notice under section 143(2) before completing the reassessment.

Analysis: The assessee had originally filed a return under section 139(1) and later filed a return in response to notice under section 148. The Tribunal held that the belated filing could not be treated as non-est so as to dispense with the statutory requirement of notice under section 143(2). Relying on the principle that once a return is filed in response to section 148, the Assessing Officer must follow the reassessment procedure contemplated by sections 142 and 143(2), the Tribunal found that non-issuance of the jurisdictional notice was not a curable irregularity. The Tribunal also treated the reassessment as unsustainable in light of the binding precedents applied to similar facts.

Conclusion: Notice under section 143(2) was mandatory in the facts of the case, and the reassessment completed without such notice was invalid and void ab initio.

---