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2017 (6) TMI 732 - HC - Income TaxValidity of block assessment - period of limitation - no notice under Section 143 (2) issued - whether the delayed return treated as non-est return - Held that:- AO had issued a letter seeking information from the assessee. This thus clearly was not a notice in any format. Section 143 (2) requires a notice by Assessing Officer, if he considers it necessary or expedient to ensure that the assessee has not under-stated the income or does not compute excessive loss or has not under-paid the tax in any manner. Only after issuance of such a notice, the Assessing Officer can frame the assessment under Section 143 (3). The fact that such a notice would be necessary even in case of block assessment is settled in the case of Hotel Blue Moon (2010 (2) TMI 1 - SUPREME COURT OF INDIA ). Had the assessee in the present case not filed the return in response to the notice issued by the Assessing Officer or for some reasons such return was held to be invalid or non-est, revenue's contention that no notice under sub-section (2) of Section 143 was necessary and the Assessing Officer could have proceeded to frame the assessment under Sub-section (1) of Section 144 would merit further consideration. In the present case, however, the assessee did file the return, though belatedly. The Assessing Officer did not discard such return but proceeded on the basis of such return and framed an assessment assessing the income higher than the returned income. Under the circumstances, before rejecting such income, notice under Section 143 (2) of the Act was necessary. Such notice not having been issued, the Tribunal correctly upheld the judgment of the CIT (Appeals). - Decided against revenue
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