Escaped-assessment provision cannot be used while regular assessment remains pending for the same period.

Section 12(8) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act cannot be invoked for escaped or under-assessed turnover while the regular assessment for the same period is still pending and unconcluded. The provision applies only after the original assessment has reached finality, because no turnover can be said to have escaped assessment before completion of the assessment proceeding. The text also rejects using the escaped-assessment route simply to avoid delay or limitation in completing the regular assessment. A notice issued under Section 12(8) in such circumstances was therefore not sustainable and the initiation of proceedings was without jurisdiction.

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Issues: Whether a proceeding under Section 12(8) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1947 could be initiated for a period when the regular assessment proceeding for that very period was still pending before the assessing authority.

Analysis: Section 12(8) is a special provision meant for cases where turnover has escaped assessment or has been under-assessed. A turnover cannot be treated as having escaped assessment while the original assessment proceeding is already pending and has not culminated in a final order. The limitation attached to completion of the regular assessment cannot be bypassed by resorting to the escaped-assessment provision merely because the assessing authority requires more time or fears the expiry of limitation. The earlier view that section 12(8) could be invoked even without any prior assessment was not accepted as applicable to a case where assessment proceedings were actually alive and incomplete.

Conclusion: The notice issued under Section 12(8) was not sustainable and the initiation of escaped-assessment proceedings during the pendency of the regular assessment was without jurisdiction.

Ratio Decidendi: A provision for escaped or under-assessment cannot be used while the original assessment for the same period remains pending and unconcluded, because no turnover can be said to have escaped assessment until the assessment proceeding is finally completed.

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