Escaped-turnover assessment limits upheld under sales tax law; later state limitation provisions governed reassessment timing.

A time-limit for escaped-turnover best judgment assessments under the Central Sales Tax framework was treated as a procedural fetter on assessment machinery, not an excess of delegated power, so rule 14-A(8) of the Central Sales Tax (Andhra Pradesh) Rules, 1957, was upheld as intra vires. The governing limitation for reassessment was held to come from section 14(3) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, because the Central Act referred to the State sales tax law rather than incorporating the earlier Madras enactment. As the assessments were made within four years from the end of the assessment year, they were not time-barred and the challenged assessments were sustained.

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Issues: (i) Whether rule 14-A(8) of the Central Sales Tax (Andhra Pradesh) Rules, 1957, prescribing a time-limit for best judgment assessment of escaped turnover, was ultra vires the rule-making power under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. (ii) Whether the limitation period applicable to the reassessment of escaped turnover was governed by the earlier Madras General Sales Tax Rules or by section 14(3) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, after the Central Sales Tax Act was brought into force.

Issue (i): Whether rule 14-A(8) of the Central Sales Tax (Andhra Pradesh) Rules, 1957, prescribing a time-limit for best judgment assessment of escaped turnover, was ultra vires the rule-making power under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956.

Analysis: The time-limit for completing escaped-turnover assessments was treated as a fetter on the assessing authority's jurisdiction and not as a substantive right of the assessee. The assessment machinery under the Central Sales Tax Act operated through State authorities, and section 13(3) authorised rules to carry out the purposes of the Act. Fixing a time-limit for assessment was held to be part of the procedural framework for assessment and reassessment, not an excess of delegated power.

Conclusion: Rule 14-A(8) was held to be intra vires and valid.

Issue (ii): Whether the limitation period applicable to the reassessment of escaped turnover was governed by the earlier Madras General Sales Tax Rules or by section 14(3) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, after the Central Sales Tax Act was brought into force.

Analysis: The governing provisions of the State general sales tax law were treated as a reference rather than an incorporation of the earlier Madras enactment. On that basis, the repeal of the Madras law and the coming into force of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act meant that the later State law and rules governed assessment procedure. The relevant assessments, made within four years from the end of the assessment year, were therefore within time.

Conclusion: Section 14(3) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, applied and the assessments were not time-barred.

Final Conclusion: The challenged assessments were sustained, both objections to validity and limitation were rejected, and the writ petitions failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A time-limit for making escaped-turnover assessments under the Central Sales Tax regime is a procedural fetter within the State Government's rule-making power, and where the Central Act merely refers to the State sales tax law, the later operative State law governs unless a true incorporation is shown.

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