Jurisdictional assessment limits under sales tax law made an officer's assessment void and required fresh assessments.

Review petitions were found maintainable and within time under sections 6(1) and 6(2) of the Bengal Board of Revenue Act, 1913, so the preliminary objection based on section 20(4) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 failed. The assessment for the year ending 31 December 1945 was held to have been made by an officer lacking jurisdiction because the turnover threshold for Assistant Commissioner assessment was not satisfied under rule 71 and section 11 of the 1941 Act. As the later years had been assessed on the footing of that invalid assessment, those assessments also could not stand. The matters were remitted for de novo assessment by the competent Commercial Tax Officer.

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Issues: (i) Whether the review petitions were maintainable and within time despite the preliminary objection; (ii) whether the assessment for the year ending 31 December 1945 was made by the proper authority under the statutory scheme, and what consequence followed for the remaining assessment years.

Issue (i): Whether the review petitions were maintainable and within time despite the preliminary objection.

Analysis: The objection was that review was not admissible under section 20(4) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, and that the applications were time-barred. The governing provision applied by the decision was section 6(1) and section 6(2) of the Bengal Board of Revenue Act, 1913, under which an aggrieved party could seek review within three months from the date of the order.

Conclusion: The preliminary objection was overruled and the review petitions were held maintainable and in time.

Issue (ii): Whether the assessment for the year ending 31 December 1945 was made by the proper authority under the statutory scheme, and what consequence followed for the remaining assessment years.

Analysis: The decision turned on the statutory distribution of jurisdiction under rule 71 and section 11 of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. An Assistant Commissioner could assess only where the dealer or predecessor satisfied the prescribed turnover thresholds. The corrected turnover figures showed that the relevant threshold was not met, so the first assessment could not validly have been made by the Assistant Commissioner. Once that assessment was treated as without authority, the basis for the later years also failed, because the subsequent years had been assessed on the footing of the earlier invalid assessment. The matter therefore required a de novo assessment by the Commercial Tax Officer having territorial jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The assessment for the first year was without jurisdiction, and all four cases were remitted for fresh assessment by the Commercial Tax Officer.

Final Conclusion: The decision sets aside the impugned assessments on jurisdictional grounds, sustains the review process, and directs fresh assessments by the competent tax officer.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute allocates assessment jurisdiction on the basis of specified turnover limits, an assessment made by an officer lacking those jurisdictional prerequisites is void and cannot support subsequent assessments founded on it.

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