Refund under charging provision forms part of assessment machinery and is appealable under the sales tax statute.

A refund claim under the proviso to section 4 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1959, is treated as part of the assessment machinery because the proviso forms an integral limb of the charging provision and operates on proof of inter-State sale. The claim is not a separate collateral proceeding; it is a continuation of the assessment process seeking modification of the original levy on satisfaction of statutory conditions. An order granting or refusing such refund is therefore appealable under section 31, and the challenge to appellate competence fails.

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Issues: Whether an order granting or refusing refund under the proviso to section 4 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1959 is part of the assessment proceedings under section 12 and therefore appealable under section 31.

Analysis: Section 4 is the charging provision for declared goods, and the proviso granting refund on proof of inter-State sale forms an essential limb of that charging section. A claim for refund after assessment is not a separate and independent proceeding but a continuation of the assessment process, because it seeks modification of the original levy upon satisfaction of the statutory conditions in the proviso. On that footing, the procedure for obtaining refund falls within the assessment procedure contemplated by section 12 and attracts the appellate remedy under section 31.

Conclusion: The refund order under the proviso to section 4 is appealable under section 31 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1959, and the challenge to the appellate competence fails.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory proviso attached to a charging section, when it confers refund upon satisfaction of stated conditions, is part of the assessment machinery itself and not a separate collateral remedy; an order passed on such refund claim is therefore appealable if the assessment order is appealable.

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