Civil court jurisdiction remains barred where a taxing authority acts within statutory competence, even if its assessment decision is erroneous.

Section 19 of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 bars civil court jurisdiction over assessments and orders made under the Act, leaving parties to the statutory remedies of appeal, revision and review. A taxing authority's determination of whether business has been transferred so as to attract liability under section 17 remains within its statutory competence. An erroneous construction of the deed of gift or other material does not itself make the assessment a nullity. Civil court scrutiny arises only where the authority acts outside the Act, without competence, or in breach of fundamental judicial procedure.

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Issues: Whether the civil suit was barred by the jurisdictional exclusion in section 19 of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941 on the ground that the assessment and demand against the plaintiffs were without jurisdiction.

Analysis: The statutory scheme empowered the sales tax authorities to assess tax, examine the dealer's position, and determine whether the business had been transferred so as to attract liability under section 17. Section 19 barred civil court jurisdiction in respect of assessments and orders made under the Act, subject to the statutory remedies provided by appeal, revision, and review. A decision becomes open to civil court scrutiny only where the authority acts outside the Act or without competence, or in violation of fundamental judicial procedure. Here, the authorities were exercising jurisdiction conferred by the Act when they examined the cancellation request and the alleged transfer of business, and any error in construing the deed of gift would amount at most to an erroneous decision within jurisdiction, not a nullity.

Conclusion: The civil suit was barred and not maintainable; the assessment order was treated as an order under the Act, not as one without jurisdiction, and the challenge failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was dismissed because the statutory bar to civil court jurisdiction applied to the impugned assessment and recovery proceedings.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing authority is empowered by statute to determine the relevant factual question and act upon that determination, an erroneous decision on that question does not become a jurisdictional nullity and the civil court's jurisdiction remains barred by the exclusion clause.

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