Assessing authority under sales tax rules need not have separate authorisation where the statutory scheme already confers jurisdiction.

The statutory scheme treated a Sales Tax Officer appointed to a circle as the assessing authority for that circle, with territorial jurisdiction fixed by the circle system and the power of assessment expressly conferred by the rules. The provision allowing the State Government to authorise assessment through rules was read together with the rules assigning those powers, including the rule by which superior officers exercised the powers of a Sales Tax Officer. On that construction, no separate authorisation order was required, and the later rule stating the same position was merely declaratory of an existing legal position. Earlier observations suggesting a gap in the scheme were treated as non-decisive, and the challenge to the validity of the assessments failed.

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Issues: Whether a Sales Tax Officer, on appointment to a circle, became the assessing authority with jurisdiction to make assessments under the U.P. Sales Tax Act without any separate authorisation by the State Government.

Analysis: The statutory scheme treated a Sales Tax Officer as the assessing authority for the circle to which he was appointed. The rules defined the office by reference to the duties and powers of an assessing authority, fixed territorial jurisdiction through the circle system, and expressly conferred the power of assessment on the Sales Tax Officer. The provision empowering the State Government to authorise assessment through rules was read with the rules conferring such authority, including the rule that superior officers exercised the powers of a Sales Tax Officer. On that construction, a separate order of authorisation was unnecessary and the later rule expressly stating the same position was only declaratory of what was already implicit in the scheme. Earlier observations suggesting a lacuna were treated as not decisive on the point.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the affirmative. The Sales Tax Officer had jurisdiction to make the assessment orders, and the challenge to their validity failed.

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