Limitation under sales tax law ends on the date an assessment is set aside, not when the order is served.

Section 14(7) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act was construed to exclude time only from the date of assessment until the date the assessment is set aside by the appellate or revisional authority. The provision was held not to extend to the date on which the setting-aside order is served or communicated, because the statute does not use service-based language. The court contrasted this wording with other provisions in the Act that expressly make service the starting point for limitation, and treated the text of section 14(7) as clear and not capable of enlargement. The limitation objection therefore failed, and the Tribunal's view was upheld.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of computing limitation under section 14(7) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, the period to be excluded runs only from the date of assessment until the date on which the assessment is set aside by the appellate or revisional authority, or extends up to the date on which the order setting aside the assessment is served or communicated.

Analysis: Section 14(7) expressly directs exclusion of the period between the date of assessment and the date on which the assessment has been set aside. The provision does not refer to service or communication of the appellate or revisional order. By contrast, sections 19, 20 and 21 of the Act specifically use the date of service as the starting point for limitation in appeals and revisions, showing that the legislature knew how to adopt that formulation when intended. The language of section 14(7) was therefore treated as clear and incapable of being enlarged to include the date of service of the order.

Conclusion: The exclusion under section 14(7) ends on the date when the assessment is set aside, not on the date when the setting-aside order is served or communicated. The limitation objection failed.

Final Conclusion: The revision was rejected after upholding the Tribunal's view on limitation and declining to extend the statutory exclusion beyond the date of the setting-aside order.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a limitation provision expressly excludes time only up to the date on which an assessment is set aside, the court cannot add a requirement of service or communication unless the statute says so.

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