https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7923 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. en-us Thu, 16 Apr 1970 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:03:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7923 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. Case-Laws Income Tax Thu, 16 Apr 1970 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=7923