Jurisdictional facts for reassessment must be decided first before tax authorities proceed on a notice.

A reassessment notice under section 19(1) of the M.P. General Sales Tax Act can issue only if the taxing authority is prima facie satisfied on definite material that taxable turnover escaped assessment and that the omission is attributable to the dealer. The notice is only the start of proceedings and does not itself confer jurisdiction. The dealer may raise the jurisdictional objection before the authority, which must decide that issue first by a reasoned order and proceed further only if the statutory conditions are met. On that basis, the notice was not quashed, but the petitioner was permitted to contest jurisdiction before the taxing authority.

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Issues: Whether the notice for reassessment under section 19(1) of the M.P. General Sales Tax Act, 1958 should be quashed, or whether the petitioner should be permitted to raise the jurisdictional objection before the taxing authority as a preliminary issue.

Analysis: Section 19(1) permits reassessment only when the taxing authority is prima facie satisfied, on definite material, that taxable sales or purchases have escaped assessment and that the omission is attributable to the dealer. The notice itself is only the commencement of proceedings and not the source of jurisdiction. The dealer is entitled to question the existence of the jurisdictional facts before the authority, and the authority must decide first whether the statutory conditions for proceeding further exist. Since the parties accepted that the petitioner could raise the jurisdictional objection before the authority, the Court found it unnecessary to quash the notice and instead directed the authority to decide jurisdiction first by a reasoned order.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not allowed to the extent of quashing the notice, but the petitioner was given liberty to raise the jurisdictional objection before the taxing authority, which was directed to decide that issue first and proceed further only if the jurisdictional facts were found to exist.

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