Assessment limitation does not restrict review, appeal or revision where the statute confines it to original assessments.

The proviso to section 10(6) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1944 was confined to original assessments under section 10 and did not restrict review, appeal or revision under section 20. The review power under section 20(4) was governed by the rules framed under the Act, and the Act did not make appellate or revisional powers subject to all other provisions in the manner argued by the assessee. A contrary reading would produce inconsistency, because appellate or revisional authorities are expressly empowered to set aside assessments and direct fresh assessments even after the two-year period.

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Issues: Whether the proviso to section 10(6) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1944, which bars an original assessment after 24 months from the expiry of the relevant period, also restricts the power of review, appeal or revision under section 20 so as to invalidate a sanction for review or a fresh assessment made after that period.

Analysis: The limitation in the proviso was held to govern only an original order of assessment under section 10. The power of review under section 20(4) was subject only to the rules framed under the Act, and the Act did not say that the appellate or revisional powers were subject to the other provisions of the Act in the manner found in the statutes relied on by the assessee. The proviso was treated as grammatically and logically attached to the assessment provision to which it was appended, and not as a restriction on the whole Act. A contrary construction would create repugnancy and absurdity, because appellate and revisional authorities would be unable to set aside assessments and direct fresh assessments once two years had elapsed, even though the Act expressly empowered them to do so.

Conclusion: The proviso to section 10(6) does not apply to reviews, appeals or revisions, and a sanction for review or a fresh assessment made pursuant to appellate or revisional directions is not barred by that proviso.

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