Fresh assessments under amended sales tax law must follow controlling precedent for declared goods.

Where an earlier decision had already settled the statutory basis for assessing the same declared goods, fresh assessments were required to conform to that governing precedent and the amended provision. The Supreme Court modified the High Court's directions only to the limited extent that reassessment had to be made under section 11AA of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, as introduced by the amending law and in light of the controlling decision. The existing directions were otherwise left undisturbed, and the outcome favoured the Revenue.

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Issues: Whether the directions issued in the writ matters required modification so that fresh assessments would be made under section 11AA of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 in accordance with the earlier decision governing identical sales tax .

Analysis: The appeals were treated as covered by the earlier decision on the same statutory scheme and commodity. The legal position had already been settled on the manner in which assessment of declared goods was to proceed after the amendment, and the present matters did not warrant a different treatment. The only modification made to the High Court's directions was that any fresh assessment had to be undertaken under section 11AA as introduced by the amending law and in the light of the governing precedent.

Conclusion: The appeals were not allowed to disturb the existing directions except to the extent that fresh assessments were required to be made under section 11AA of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948. The result was in favour of the Revenue.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an earlier decision has settled the statutory basis for assessment of the same declared goods, fresh assessments must conform to the amended provision and the controlling precedent.

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