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The High Court modified the first question by deleting the words "without having recourse to Section 14 of the Business Profits Tax Act " and answered both the questions in the negative. The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal had held that as under s. 14 of the Act the period of limitation commenced from the end of the chargeable accounting period in question the notice under s. 11 (1) had to be issued before that period. The High Court did not accept this view. It held that both ss. 11 and 14 had to be read together and the mention of four years in s. 14 was an important indication of the period of limitation in regard to the issue of notice under s. 11 also and further if profits which escaped assessment, as in the present case, could only be taxed within four years of the end of the chargeable accounting period because of s. 14 of the Act, then inferentially the escape of assessment must be at sometime anterior to the period mentioned in s. 14 and as on the facts of the present case the notice had been issued four years after the close of the chargeable accounting period the notice under s. 11 wag not valid. Against this order the appellant has come in appeal to this Court on a certificate of the High Court. It is submitted by the appellant that though ss. 11 and 14 may have to be read together, they apply to different sets of circumstances; s. 11 applies to a case where the Income- tax Officer requires any person whom he believes to be engaged in any business to which the Act applies or to have been so engaged during any chargeable accounting period and calls upon him to furnish a return with respect to such chargeable accounting period; and s. 14 applies to a case where, in consequence of definite information possessed by him, the Income-tax Officer discovers in regard to any chargeable accounting period that the profits of any business have escaped assessment. In other words, s. 11 applies to original assessments after the first notice calling upon an assessee to make a return in regard to the profits of any chargeable accounting period and s. 14 applies where such notice was issued, and it either ended in no assessment at all or there was under-assessment, etc. According to the argument of the appellant, therefore,there is no period of limitation prescribed by the Act for the first notice to furnish a return in regard to any chargeable accounting period but if such notice was given and a return was made and for any reason whatsoever the profits were not assessed or were under-assessed, etc., then s. 14 comes into operation and notice has to be served within four years of the end of the chargeable accounting period in question.

S. 11(1). " The Income-tax Officer may, for the purposes of this Act, require any person whom he believes to be enaged in any business to which this Act applies, or to have been so engaged during any chargeable accounting period, or to be otherwise liable to pay business profits tax, to furnish within such period, not being less than forty-five days from the date of the service of the notice, as may be specified in the notice, a return in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner setting forth (along with such other particulars as may be provided for in the notice) with respect to any chargeable accounting period specified in the notice, the profits (taxable profits) of the business or the amount of deficiency, if any, available for relief under section 6 S. 14. " If, in consequence of definite information which has come into his possession, the Income-tax Officer discovers that profits of any chargeable accounting period chargeable to business profits tax have escaped assessment, or have been underassessed, or have been the subject of excessive relief, he may at any time within four years of the end of the chargeable accounting period in question serve on the person liable to such tax a notice containing all or any of the requirements which may be included in a notice under s. 11, and may proceed to assess or reassess the amount of such profits liable to business profits tax, and the provisions of this Act shall, so far as may be, apply as if the notice were a notice issued under that section ".

years which ex facie could not have been intended, as one section depends upon the entertainment of belief and the other section requires definite information leading to a positive discovery.

Read in this way, it is clear that s. 11 effectuates the assessment, levy and collection of tax from persons believed to be liable, while s. 14 enables a reopening of cases where after an assessment there is discovery that profits have escaped assessment due to one reason or another. The use of the words " escaped assessment" in the context of the Act has reference only to those cases where profits of a business were brought to process once but for some reason some profits escaped assessment or were under-assessed or received excessive relief. The insistence upon definite information leading to such a discovery before action is taken under s. 14, also points in the same direction. "

Definite information " denotes that there is something discovered which can demonstrate the falsity of something done previously. The existence of belief shows the possibility of there existing some profits which need to be taxed. Whereas " definite information " points to a state of affairs in which though there was a processing of the profits before, something definite having been found out the result of that processing is discovered to be incorrect, the word " belief " in s. 11 shows that the Income-tax Officer is to embark upon a first enquiry as to whether the business comes within the purview of the Act or not.