Assessment notice under sales tax law: jurisdiction survives, but an assessment may fail if omission prejudices the assessee.

A procedural notice under Section 13(2) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act did not operate as a condition precedent to the Sales Tax Officer's jurisdiction, because assessment machinery provisions do not themselves create the charging liability. However, the particular assessment was invalid on the facts since the assessee was not shown to have had a fair opportunity to produce relevant books and papers, and the omission to issue notice caused prejudice. The distinction was drawn between jurisdiction in law and the validity of the assessment made in the circumstances, and the matter had to recommence from the stage of issuing notice under Section 13(2)(a).

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Issues: Whether, in the absence of the statutory notice under Section 13(2) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1947, the Sales Tax Officer had jurisdiction to complete the assessment and whether the assessment could nevertheless be sustained despite the omission of notice.

Analysis: Section 13 forms part of the machinery for assessment and does not itself create the charging liability, which arises under the charging provisions of the Act. The issue whether a notice under Section 13(2)(a) is a condition precedent to jurisdiction was answered in the negative. However, the Court also examined the facts of the case and found that the assessee had not been shown to have had a fair opportunity to produce the relevant books and papers for the period in question. On that footing, the omission to issue the statutory notice caused prejudice. The distinction was drawn between the existence of jurisdiction in law and the validity of the particular assessment made in the circumstances of the case.

Conclusion: The absence of notice did not destroy the authority to assess in law, but the assessment made on the facts was invalid because the assessee was prejudiced by the omission; the matter was required to start again from the stage of issuing notice under Section 13(2)(a).

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural notice under the assessment machinery provision does not by itself create or defeat taxing jurisdiction, but an assessment made without the required notice may still be invalid if the omission has caused prejudice to the assessee in the particular case.

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