Limitation for fresh sales tax reassessment after remand must be completed within the statutory period, or jurisdiction fails.

Section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act was held to require completion of the assessment within the prescribed three-year period, not merely issuance of notice. Where the earlier assessment had been set aside on appeal and the matter remanded, no assessment order survived, so the remand still had to be concluded within that statutory limit. The Court rejected reliance on the comparable Income-tax provision, noting its different structure. Fresh assessment after expiry of the limitation period was therefore without jurisdiction, and the assessee's limitation objection succeeded.

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Issues: Whether a fresh assessment under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act could be made after expiry of the three-year period prescribed for escaped turnover assessments, when the earlier assessment had been set aside on appeal and remanded for fresh assessment.

Analysis: Section 21 prescribed a time limit for making the assessment itself, not merely for issuing notice. The Court held that the bar applied equally where the matter returned on remand, because the earlier assessment had been set aside and no assessment order survived. The remand direction required a fresh assessment under section 21, and such reassessment had to be completed within three years from the expiry of the relevant assessment year. The comparative reference to section 34 of the Income-tax Act did not assist the revenue, because the structure of that provision was different.

Conclusion: The Sales Tax Officer had no jurisdiction to proceed with a fresh assessment under section 21 after expiry of the statutory period, and the contention of limitation was accepted in favour of the assessee.

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