Jurisdictional defect in reassessment: absence of prior transfer order could not be cured by the validating provision.

A reassessment order made by an officer of the Sales Tax Enforcement Branch was held invalid where no written transfer of proceedings had been made under section 70 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 before the reassessment was completed. The validating provision in section 7(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax (Amendment and Validating Provisions) Act, 1970 was construed as operating only where a transfer order existed that could satisfy the amended section 70. It did not cure a complete absence of prior transfer, because that would nullify the statutory transfer requirement and disrupt harmonious construction. The later transfer order could not relate back to validate the already completed reassessment.

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Issues: Whether a reassessment order passed by the Sales Tax Officer, Enforcement Branch, was valid when no order transferring the proceedings to him had been made under section 70 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959 before the reassessment was completed, and whether section 7(1) of the Bombay Sales Tax (Amendment and Validating Provisions) Act, 1970 validated such an order.

Analysis: Section 70, both in its unamended and amended form, contemplated an order in writing transferring proceedings before another officer could exercise jurisdiction. The validating provision in section 7(1) operated only where proceedings had been transferred in a manner that would satisfy the amended section 70. The words relied upon by the department could not be read to validate proceedings where there had been a total absence of any transfer order, because that would make the condition of compliance with the amended section 70 meaningless and would defeat harmonious construction of the section. The later transfer order also did not relate to the completed reassessment order already passed by the Enforcement Branch officer, and the argument based on concurrent jurisdiction was not pursued.

Conclusion: The reassessment order was without jurisdiction and was not validated by section 7(1) of the Amending and Validating Provisions Act, 1970.

Ratio Decidendi: A validating provision that preserves orders made by an officer without prior transfer can operate only where there is an existing transfer order capable of satisfying the amended transfer requirements; it does not cure a complete absence of transfer before the officer acts.

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