Revisional jurisdiction cannot be used to reopen escaped turnover where reassessment power belongs to the assessing authority.

Revisional power cannot be used to initiate reassessment of escaped turnover where the statute vests that function in the assessing authority. The Bombay High Court held that section 31 confers supervisory jurisdiction only and does not authorise the Assistant Commissioner to exercise a distinct reassessment power reserved by the Act. On the facts, the attempt to bring escaped turnover to charge was outside the proper scope of revision, so the proceedings were not validly initiated.

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Issues: Whether the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax was justified in exercising revisional powers under section 31 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1953 to initiate proceedings for bringing escaped turnover to charge.

Analysis: The revisional authority cannot use section 31 to do what the Act reserves to the assessing authority, namely to initiate proceedings for reassessment of escaped turnover. The governing principle is that revisional power is supervisory and cannot trench upon a distinct statutory power expressly vested in another authority. On the facts, the action taken was in substance an attempt to reopen escaped turnover, a matter outside the proper scope of revisional jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The Assistant Commissioner was not justified in invoking section 31 for that purpose, and the proceedings were not validly initiated.

Ratio Decidendi: Revisional jurisdiction cannot be employed to reassess escaped turnover where the statute vests that power in the assessing authority.

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