Rectification notices after limitation cannot be converted into escaped-assessment notices or demands when no concluded assessment exists.

Section 25-A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act permits rectification only of a mistake apparent from the record and only within five years from the date of the assessment order sought to be amended. Notices issued after that period to disturb completed assessments were therefore time-barred. The article also distinguishes rectification from escaped-assessment proceedings under section 12-A: a notice for fresh assessment after enquiry cannot be treated as a rectification notice. It further notes that a demand cannot be sustained without a concluded assessment and quantification of tax liability, which was absent here. The impugned notices were invalid and could not be salvaged on either basis.

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Issues: Whether notices issued under section 25-A of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act to rectify completed assessments were barred by limitation and whether they could be sustained as notices under section 12-A or as mere demands.

Analysis: Section 25-A permits rectification only of a mistake apparent from the record and only within five years from the date of the order sought to be amended. The assessment orders in question had been passed more than five years before the impugned notices, so the statutory period had expired. The earlier notices under section 12-A were directed to escaped assessment and contemplated a fresh assessment after enquiry, whereas the impugned action was, in substance, an attempt to rectify completed assessments. The two jurisdictions are distinct and a notice issued for escaped assessment cannot be treated as a notice for rectification. Nor could the impugned notices be upheld as demands, because a demand can arise only after a concluded assessment and quantification of tax liability, which was absent here.

Conclusion: The notices under section 25-A were time-barred and invalid, and they could not be salvaged either as section 12-A notices or as demands. The decision is in favour of the assessee.

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