Limited remand scope prevents reopening a concluded jurisdictional issue; reassessment stood upheld.

Where a revisional order has finally decided the availability of reopening power and remanded the matter only for a limited factual exercise, the appellate authority cannot reopen the concluded jurisdictional issue. The Tribunal was confined to examining whether the assessing authority had acted within the remand directions on acceptance of defective C forms, but it re-examined the availability of power under section 19(1), which was no longer open. The interference was therefore outside the scope of the remand, and the reassessment orders were upheld in favour of the Department.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in setting aside the reassessment orders on the ground that the power to reopen the assessment was not available, when that question had already been concluded in revision and the appeal before the Tribunal was confined to compliance with the remand directions.

Analysis: The revisional authority had already decided the applicability of the reopening power and had remanded the matter only for the limited purpose of determining which defective C forms could be accepted in accordance with its directions. In the appeal arising after remand, the only matter open for consideration was whether the assessing authority had correctly acted within those remand directions. The Tribunal went beyond that confined scope by re-examining the availability of power under section 19(1), a matter that was no longer open. Its interference was therefore based on a question outside the ambit of the appeal.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was not justified in setting aside the reassessment orders on the ground that the power of reopening under section 19(1) was unavailable.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered in favour of the Department, and the reassessment orders were upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a revisional order has finally determined a jurisdictional question and remands the case for a limited purpose, the appellate authority cannot reopen the concluded question and may decide only the issue left open by the remand.

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