Final quashing of reassessment notices bars reopening of the same proceedings without first setting aside the earlier order.

A reassessment order under the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, read with the Central Sales Tax Act, could not stand where the High Court had already quashed the earlier reassessment notices for the same periods and that judgment had attained finality between the parties. The authority could not reopen the matter indirectly by relying on a later decision in another case without first getting the earlier binding adjudication set aside in appropriate proceedings. On that footing, the reassessment was held to lack legal foundation and was quashed as without jurisdiction, leaving the assessee protected by the earlier final judgment.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment order passed under section 21(1) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 read with section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 could stand when the earlier notices for the same reassessment had already been quashed by the High Court and the earlier judgment had attained finality between the parties.

Analysis: The earlier writ petition had already resulted in quashing of the reassessment notices for the relevant periods, and that decision had not been challenged. Once the notices were set aside, the matter could not be reopened indirectly on the basis of a subsequent decision in another case. The later reassessment order thus attempted to bypass a binding earlier adjudication without first getting that decision set aside in appeal. In these circumstances, the reassessment lacked legal foundation and could not survive.

Conclusion: The reassessment order was without jurisdiction and was liable to be quashed.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the impugned reassessment order was set aside, leaving the assessee protected by the earlier final judgment.

Ratio Decidendi: A reassessment proceeding cannot be reopened by the authority in disregard of an earlier final order quashing the very notices or proceedings, unless that earlier adjudication is first set aside in appropriate proceedings.

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