Procedural account-preservation rule applies to pending assessments and bars dealers from withholding records after five years.

Amended rule 26(10) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Rules applies to pending assessments because it is procedural and intended to facilitate completion of assessment proceedings. The statutory scheme under sections 12 and 28 requires a dealer's accounts to remain available for scrutiny when the assessing authority treats a return as incorrect or incomplete and proceeds to best judgment assessment. A dealer has no vested right to resist production of records merely because the earlier five-year preservation period has expired. The amendment does not create or take away substantive rights, but governs preservation and production of accounts for assessment purposes.

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Issues: Whether the amended rule 26(10) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Rules requiring preservation of accounts till assessment becomes final applies to pending assessments, and whether a dealer can resist a notice under section 28(1) by relying on the earlier five-year preservation period.

Analysis: The assessment scheme under sections 12 and 28 of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act requires the dealer's accounts to be available for scrutiny whenever the assessing authority considers a return to be incorrect or incomplete and proposes best judgment assessment. The obligation to maintain and preserve accounts is part of the statutory mechanism for completing assessment and does not confer a vested right on the dealer to withhold records merely because five years have elapsed. The amended rule 26(10) is procedural in nature, intended to facilitate completion of pending assessments, and does not create or divest substantive rights.

Conclusion: The amended rule 26(10) applies to pending assessments, and the dealer cannot refuse to produce accounts under section 28(1) by invoking the earlier rule.

Ratio Decidendi: A procedural amendment governing preservation and production of accounts applies to pending assessment proceedings and may be invoked to require production of records necessary for completing assessment.

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