https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=148247 A belated return filed before the assessment order cannot be ignored as non est merely because it was late. Under section 12(2) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, best judgment assessment is available only where no return is filed in time or where the return is found incorrect or incomplete, and the assessing officer must consider an existing late return and follow the statutory procedure if its correctness is in doubt. A best judgment assessment made by disregarding the return was therefore invalid, and the consequential penalty could not stand; both were quashed, with liberty to proceed afresh in accordance with law. en-us Wed, 18 Oct 1967 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:38:01 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=148247 A belated return filed before the assessment order cannot be ignored as non est merely because it was late. Under section 12(2) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, best judgment assessment is available only where no return is filed in time or where the return is found incorrect or incomplete, and the assessing officer must consider an existing late return and follow the statutory procedure if its correctness is in doubt. A best judgment assessment made by disregarding the return was therefore invalid, and the consequential penalty could not stand; both were quashed, with liberty to proceed afresh in accordance with law. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Wed, 18 Oct 1967 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=148247