STATE OF ASSAM & ANR. versus D. C. CHOUDHURI & ORS.

Citation: [1970] 1 S.C.R. 780 · Decided: 07-08-1969 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: J.C. SHAH · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 2 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

780 
STATE OF ASSAM & ANR. 
v. 
D. C. CHOUDHURI & OR<;. 
August 7, 1969 
[J. C. SHAH, ACTING C.J., V. RAMASWAMI AND A. N. GROVER, JJ.J 
Assam A.grlcultural Income-tax A.ct (A.,..am A.ct 9 of 1939), ss. 19, 20 
and 3f>-General notice under s. 19(1)-No individual notice under s. 19 
(2)-No Initiation of procttdin11s undtr s. 30-Bm iudgmtnt assmm•nt 
umitr s. 20(4) btyond 3 years of tht financial ytar--Validi(v. 
The assessee, owners of a tea estate in Assam, after carrying on the 
business of cultivation, manufacture and sale of tea during the years 1948 
to 1953 sold the tea estatc on July 9, 1953. In 1961, tbey received a 
notice from the Agricultural Income-tax Officer to furnish returns of their 
agricultlfral income for the assessment years 1949-50 to I 953-54 in respect 
of that tea estate. They did not submit any 
return~. Thereafter. they 
received a 1101icc of demand under s. 23 of the Assam Agricultural Incomc-
tax Ac.1, 1939, for payment of the tax assessed on best 
judgment basis 
under s. 20( 4). The assessecs v.·cre not served with any 
notice 
under 
s. 19(2) which provides for a notice to 
be SC1"Ved personally on 
the 
a~ssee, during the respective years, nor under s. 30 of the Act which 
deals with escaped assessment. 
The purchasers of the tea ~state were served, in 1961, with assessment 
orders under s. 20(4) in respect of the assessment years 1951-52 to 1955-
56 with notices of demand fdr payment of the tax assessed for each year. 
These asses.sees were also not served with any notice under s. 19(2) or 
s. 30. 
AJI the assessces challenged the assessments in writ petitions and 
the High Court allowed the petitions. 
In appeal to this Court, it \vas contended that the assessment proceed-
ings commenced \\'ith the publication of a general notice under s. 19(1), 
that it v.·as open to the Agricultural Income-tax Officer to make 
a hest 
judgment assessment under s. 20( 4) without any limitation as to time and 
that it v.·as not necessary to issue any individual nolice under s. 19(2) Or 
to initiate proceedings under s. 30. 
HELO : l'\otYtilh5tanding the difference in language between s. 20( 4) 
of the Act and s. 23 ( 4) of the Income· tax Act the principles laid down by 
this Court in interpretin.s: ss. 22, 23 and 34 of the Income-1ax Act apply in 
the interpretation of ss. 19, 20 and 30, the corresponding sections of the 
Assam Agricul!ural Income-tax Act. (788 A..CJ 
On those principles the nublication of the Rencral nolice in any financial 
year under s. 19( 1) of the A\sam Act to furnish a return of one's agricul-
tural income in the previous year, does not initiate nrocecdings against an 
asscssee unlec;s such asscsc;ce files a return. If no rclurn is made pursuant 
to the general notice under s. 19( I) assessment could be made against an 
assessec under s. 19(2), serving an individual 
no1icc on that 
asse'.isee 
during that financial year. Once th~t financial year is over, and no return 
has been made in response 10 the general notice under s. 19( 1) and no 
individual notice has been served under s. 19(2), there would arise a case 
o'f escaped assessment~ and, :he only way lo hring that income to lax is to 
iniliate proceedings by a notice in accordance with s. 30 »·ithin 3 years of 
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F 
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II 
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ASSAM v. D. c. CHOUDHURI (Grover, J.) 
78 l 
A 
the end of that financilJI year. Since no such proceedings were initiated in 
the present case, the usessment orders were rightly quashed. [787 E-H] 
The Commissioner of Income-tax, Bombay v. Ranchhodas Karsondas,. 
Bombay, [1960] I S.C.R. 114, Ghanshyam Das v. Regiol'al Assistant Com-
missioner of Sales-tax, Nagpur, 
[1964] 4 S.C.R. 
436 and The State of 
Assam v, Deva Prasad Barua, [1969] 1 S.C.R. 698, followed. 
B 
CIVIL APPELLAtE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeals Nos. 1537 to 
1545 of 1968. 
Appeals from the judgment and orde~ dated April 4, 1963 of 
the Assam High Court in Civil Rules Nos. 233 to 236 and 238 to 
242 of 1961. 
c 
Naunit Lal and S. N. Choudhury, for the appellants (in all the 
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appeals). 
M. C. Chagla and Sukumar Ghose, for the respondents (in all 
the appeals) . 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Grover, J. 
These are nine connected appeals by certificate 
from a judgment of the Higb Court of Assam 
& 
Nagaland 
whereby nine petitlons filed by the respondents under Art. 226 
of the Constitut.ion were allowed and the assessment orders made 
under the provisions of the Assam Agricultural Income-tax 

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