https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=69254 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. en-us Tue, 30 Jan 1979 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:09:50 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=69254 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. Case-Laws Income Tax Tue, 30 Jan 1979 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=69254