Tax assessment challenge barred in criminal non-payment proceedings; trial limited to proof of assessment and default.

Section 21 of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, was examined as a bar on challenging assessment validity or tax liability in criminal proceedings for non-payment of assessed tax. The Court held that the criminal trial is confined to proving assessment and default within the time allowed, while disputes over the legality or quantum of assessment must be pursued through the Act's assessment, appeal, and revision scheme. The Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act apply to the trial, but do not expand the offence or require re-adjudication of the assessment. No constitutional or statutory repugnancy was found.

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Issues: Whether section 21 of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, barring challenge to the validity of assessment or tax liability in criminal proceedings, is ultra vires the Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, or the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Analysis: Section 21 was examined in the context of the scheme of the Act, which separately provided for assessment, appeal, and revision. The offence relevant to the case was failure to pay the tax within the time allowed under section 19(b), not a reopening of the assessment itself. The criminal trial was held to be confined to proof of assessment and non-payment within time, while questions touching the legality or quantum of assessment lay outside the scope of that prosecution. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act were recognised as applicable to the criminal trial, but their application did not enlarge the ingredients of the offence or require the criminal court to re-adjudicate the assessment. The contention based on repugnancy and on the so-called pith and substance doctrine was rejected, and the Court found no conflict with Article 14, Article 21, or the relevant criminal procedure and evidence provisions.

Conclusion: Section 21 of the Travancore-Cochin General Sales Tax Act, 1125, was held not to be ultra vires of the Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, or the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the reference was answered against the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A provision that excludes challenge to the validity of a tax assessment in a criminal prosecution for non-payment of the assessed tax is valid where the criminal trial is limited to proof of assessment and default, and does not require the criminal court to re-examine the assessment itself.

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