Limitation for purchase tax assessment cannot be bypassed by revision when no return was furnished and the statutory period expired.

Where a dealer has not furnished the relevant purchase return, assessment must proceed under the provision governing non-filing of returns, which requires action within the prescribed five-year period. Section 11(2) applies only where returns are furnished but the Assessing Authority seeks further evidence or attendance, and it cannot be used to bypass the limitation attached to section 11(5). Revisional power under section 21(1) also cannot be invoked to defeat that statutory time bar. On the stated facts, the purchase tax demand was therefore not sustainable after expiry of the limitation period.

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Issues: Whether the purchase tax demand could be sustained under section 11(2) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 and the revisional power under section 21(1) could be used after the expiry of five years, or whether the case fell under section 11(5) of the Act.

Analysis: Section 11(2) applies where returns have been furnished but the Assessing Authority is not satisfied and seeks further attendance or evidence. Section 11(5) governs the situation where no return is furnished for the relevant period, and it requires assessment to be made within five years after expiry of that period. On the facts, the dealer had not furnished the purchase returns, and the demand was sought to be raised only after the statutory period had expired. The revisional authority could not circumvent the limitation built into section 11(5) by invoking section 11(2) and section 21(1).

Conclusion: The matter was rightly governed by section 11(5), and the purchase tax demand could not be sustained under section 11(2) or through revisional action after the expiry of five years.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the dealer has not furnished the relevant return, the Assessing Authority must proceed under the provision prescribing assessment within the statutory limitation period, and revision cannot be used to avoid that limitation.

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