Limitation for sales tax appeal starts with service of the assessment order, not the bare demand notice.

Limitation for a first appeal under section 20(2)(i) of the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957 runs from service of the assessment order, not from service of the bare demand notice in form 6. Reading section 20 with the assessment scheme under section 12, the Court held that where best-judgment assessment is made, the assessing authority must record reasons and an effective appeal can be prepared only after the assessee receives the assessment order containing those reasons. The statutory expression "notice of assessment" cannot be controlled by the prescribed form. On that construction, the appeal before the Deputy Commissioner was within time.

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Issues: Whether the thirty-day limitation for a first appeal under section 20(2)(i) of the Mysore Sales Tax Act, 1957 runs from the service of the bare notice in form 6 or from service of the assessment order recording the reasons for assessment.

Analysis: The limitation provision in section 20 has to be read with the scheme of assessment under section 12. Where assessment is made to the best of judgment under section 12(3), the assessing authority must record reasons, and an effective appeal can be prepared only when the assessee has knowledge of the essential contents of that assessment order. The Act must be construed on its own terms, and the rules or prescribed form cannot control the meaning of the statutory expression "notice of assessment". Applying that principle, "notice of assessment" means service of the assessment order itself, not merely service of the demand notice in form 6.

Conclusion: The appeal before the Deputy Commissioner was within time, and the contrary view on limitation was incorrect.

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