Remand jurisdiction in sales tax reassessment cannot exceed appellate directions; pre-1983 restaurant sales were not taxable on the stated facts.

An assessing authority acting on remand must stay strictly within the appellate directions and cannot reopen the entire assessment year or conduct a de novo reassessment. The remand here was confined to sales between 3 February 1983 and 31 March 1983, so reassessment for the full year was beyond jurisdiction and unsustainable. The document also states that restaurant eatables sold before 3 February 1983 were not taxable where counter-sales and tax collection from customers were not established, with the position guided by the Forty-sixth Constitutional Amendment and Northern India Caterers. The assessment and penalty were set aside, and only the remand-limited period remained open for reconsideration.

---

---

Issues: (i) Whether the assessing authority could reassess the assessee beyond the limited period specified in the remand order; (ii) Whether sales of eatables served in the restaurant prior to 3 February 1983 were liable to sales tax.

Issue (i): Whether the assessing authority could reassess the assessee beyond the limited period specified in the remand order.

Analysis: The appellate authority had earlier held the sales prior to 3 February 1983 to be exempt and had remanded the matter only for reassessment of sales between 3 February 1983 and 31 March 1983, with corresponding reconsideration of penalty. Such a remand confined the scope of enquiry and controlled the jurisdiction of the assessing authority. Once the remand order attained finality, the assessing authority was bound to act strictly within its limits and could not reopen the whole assessment year or conduct a de novo assessment.

Conclusion: The reassessment for the entire year was beyond jurisdiction and could not be sustained.

Issue (ii): Whether sales of eatables served in the restaurant prior to 3 February 1983 were liable to sales tax.

Analysis: The earlier appellate finding, supported by the Forty-sixth Constitutional Amendment and the decision in Northern India Caterers, was that counter-sales in the restaurant were not established and no sales tax had been collected from customers. On that footing, restaurant sales made to persons consuming food in the restaurant were not chargeable to tax for the period before 3 February 1983.

Conclusion: The sales prior to 3 February 1983 were not taxable.

Final Conclusion: The assessment and penalty orders were set aside, and the matter was sent back only for reassessment confined to the period specified in the earlier remand order.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessing authority on remand cannot travel beyond the confines of the appellate directions, and restaurant sales made before the relevant constitutional change are not taxable where no counter-sale or tax collection is established.

---