Refund limitation runs from the effective reassessment order when revision only directs fresh assessment and does not finally ermine entitlement.

Refund limitation under section 14 of the Orissa Sales Tax Act ran from the effective reassessment order where the earlier revisional order was conditional and did not finally determine refund entitlement. The revisional authority had directed a fresh assessment to work out the refund in light of the constitutional exemption for sales during the relevant period, so the reassessment order became the operative order for limitation purposes. A refund application filed shortly after communication of that reassessment was therefore within time, and the refusal of refund was quashed with refund directed.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner's application for refund was barred by limitation under section 14 of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947, having regard to the revisional order dated 28 September 1957 and the reassessment order dated 2 August 1959.

Analysis: Section 14 permitted refund within twenty-four months from the assessment order or within twelve months from the final order passed on appeal, revision, review or reference, whichever period was later. The revisional order did not finally and absolutely determine the refund entitlement; instead, it directed the assessing authority to revise the assessment and work out the refund in the light of the legal position that sales from 26 January 1950 to 31 March 1950 were exempt under article 286(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. In these circumstances, the reassessment order was the effective order for limitation purposes, and the refund application filed shortly after communication of that order was within time.

Conclusion: The refund application was not barred by limitation and the petitioner succeeded.

Final Conclusion: The order refusing refund was quashed and refund was directed, with the writ petition being allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a revisional order is conditional and contemplates a fresh assessment to determine the refund, limitation for refund runs from the effective reassessment order and not from the earlier revisional order.

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