Reassessment appeals can reopen the whole turnover, allowing challenge to items already included in the original assessment.

Under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, reassessment under section 16 was construed as a fresh assessment of the taxable turnover for the year as a whole, not merely a proceeding limited to the escaped item. An appeal under section 31 against a reassessment order therefore permits scrutiny of the entire turnover covered by that reassessment, including items already included in the original assessment. The contrary argument that the assessee was barred from challenging such items because no appeal had been filed against the original assessment was rejected. The assessee could contest the assessability of the disputed turnover in the reassessment appeal, and the revenue's revision failed.

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Issues: Whether, in an appeal against reassessment under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, the assessee could challenge the assessability of turnover that had been included in the original assessment and against which no appeal had been filed.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of reassessment under section 16 was construed as operating on the taxable turnover for the year as a whole, not as a proceeding confined only to the escaped item newly brought to charge. Section 31, which provides for an appeal against an order under section 16, was read as placing an order of reassessment on the same footing as an original assessment order for appellate purposes. The majority held that the reopening of assessment substitutes the reassessment order for the original order, so the appellate authority may examine the whole turnover included in the reassessment, including items previously assessed in the original order. The contrary view that the assessee was barred because no appeal had been filed against the original assessment was rejected.

Conclusion: The assessee was entitled to question the assessability of the disputed turnover in the appeal against reassessment, and the revision filed by the revenue failed.

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