Final quarterly best-judgment assessment cannot be reopened later by a rebate claim under the sales tax law.

A quarterly best-judgment assessment under section 8(1)(b) of the Madhya Bharat Sales Tax Act, 1950, becomes final for that period if not challenged in appeal or revision. Section 8(5) permitting rebate while determining yearly tax does not authorise reopening or modification of that completed quarterly assessment. Where the assessee did not contest the quarterly assessment at the proper stage, a later rebate claim could not disturb its finality. The rebate was therefore not maintainable against the finalized first-quarter assessment.

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Issues: Whether a quarterly assessment made under section 8(1)(b) of the Madhya Bharat Sales Tax Act, 1950, and allowed to attain finality can later be modified by allowing rebate under section 8(5) when tax for the remaining quarters is determined.

Analysis: Section 8(1)(a) contemplates assessment of the year after returns for all periods become due, but section 8(1)(b), beginning with a non obstante clause, authorises a separate best-judgment assessment where a dealer fails to file the prescribed return for a quarter. Such an assessment is final for that period unless appealed or revised. Section 8(5) permits rebate while determining tax for the year 1950-51, but the assessee had not challenged the quarterly assessment when it was made. The rebate claim was therefore sought after the quarterly assessment had already become final, and the claim could not reopen or modify that completed assessment.

Conclusion: The quarterly assessment for the first quarter could not be modified subsequently under section 8(5), and the rebate claim on that finalized assessment was not maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A final best-judgment assessment for a quarter under section 8(1)(b) cannot be altered by a later rebate claim under section 8(5) unless the assessee challenges the assessment in appeal or revision at the proper stage.

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