Civil suit barred where dealer status as Hindu undivided family falls within sales tax assessment powers.

A civil suit challenging the plaintiffs' status as members of a Hindu joint family and disputing sales tax liability was barred by section 36 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957. The Act treats a Hindu undivided family as a dealer, so the sales tax authorities were entitled to determine whether the business was carried on by an individual or by a Hindu undivided family for assessment purposes. Because the status dispute was integral to the statutory assessment process and the suit was brought after assessment proceedings had begun, the civil court could not entertain the challenge against the tax authorities.

---

---

Issues: Whether a civil suit seeking a declaration that the plaintiffs were not members of a Hindu joint family and were not liable to sales tax assessment was barred by section 36 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, 1957, and whether the sales tax authorities could enquire into the status of the dealer, including whether the dealer was an individual or a Hindu undivided family.

Analysis: Section 36 bars any suit intended to set aside, modify, or question an assessment, order, decision, or any other matter falling within the scope of the sales tax authorities. The Act treats a Hindu undivided family as a dealer and therefore as a taxable entity. For assessment purposes, the authorities must determine who the dealer is, which necessarily includes deciding whether the business is carried on by an individual or by a Hindu undivided family. The challenge to the plaintiffs' status was thus integral to the assessment process and fell within the authorities' jurisdiction. The suit was instituted after assessment proceedings had begun, and the statutory bar applied to the claim against the tax authorities.

Conclusion: The civil suit was barred against the sales tax authorities, and the objection to their determining the plaintiffs' status as a Hindu undivided family failed. The appeal was dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the taxing statute authorises assessment of a dealer and expressly includes a Hindu undivided family within that concept, a civil suit questioning the assessee's status or the validity of assessment proceedings is barred if the issue falls within the scope of the statutory assessment mechanism.

---