Jurisdiction lost after statutory delay in reference disposal, rendering the subsequent sales tax application not maintainable.

Under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954, an application under section 15(2) was held not maintainable where the Board of Revenue passed its order on the reference application after the prescribed 180-day period. The statutory scheme of sections 15(1), 15(2) and 15(3A) required the Board to dispose of the reference within 180 days; once that period expired, it lacked jurisdiction to pass a valid order, and the proper remedy was to approach the High Court within the prescribed time. Because the Board's order was delayed beyond the statutory limit, it was incompetent and could not support a section 15(2) application.

---

---

Issues: Whether an application under section 15(2) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 was maintainable where the Board of Revenue passed an order on the reference application under section 15(1) after expiry of the prescribed 180 days.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of section 15(1), section 15(2) and section 15(3A) provided that if the Board of Revenue failed to dispose of the application within 180 days, it could not thereafter pass an order on that application, and the remedy then lay in moving the High Court within the prescribed period. As the Board passed its order only after the 180-day period had expired, that order was without jurisdiction. An application under section 15(2) could not be founded on such an incompetent order.

Conclusion: The application under section 15(2) was not maintainable and stood dismissed.

---