Service of assessment notice under sales tax law: Form No. 6 counted as notice, making the delayed appeal time-barred.

Service of Form No. 6 under the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957 was treated as service of the statutory notice of assessment for limitation purposes under section 20(1). The form was described as a notice of final annual assessment and demand, combining intimation of assessment with a payment demand, and the Act and rules did not require a separate copy of the assessment order to be served. Rule 22 merely allowed the assessee to obtain a copy on application. On that basis, the appeal filed nearly five years later was held to be barred by limitation, and the earlier authority cited by the assessee was distinguished as having turned on an admission rather than on the meaning of the expression.

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Issues: Whether service of Form No. 6 constituted service of a "notice of assessment" for the purpose of limitation under section 20(1) of the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957, and whether the appeal filed nearly five years later was time-barred.

Analysis: Section 20(1) made the period of limitation run from the date of of the notice of assessment. Form No. 6 was styled as a notice of final annual assessment and demand, and it combined intimation of assessment with a demand for payment. The Act and rules did not require service of a separate copy of the assessment order, and rule 22 only enabled the assessee to obtain a copy on application. On that basis, service of Form No. 6 was treated as service of the statutory notice of assessment, and the earlier decision relied upon by the assessee was distinguished as having been decided on an admission and without deciding the meaning of the expression.

Conclusion: Service of Form No. 6 amounted to service of a notice of assessment under section 20(1), and the appeal filed long after such service was barred by limitation.

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