Alternate statutory remedy and limitation under sales tax law: revised assessment upheld as within time under the final assessment date.

An alternate statutory appeal ordinarily bars writ review against a revised sales tax assessment, and the writ petition was treated as not maintainable on that basis. On limitation, Section 16(1)(a) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act was applied by taking the date of the final assessment order as the starting point for reopening escaped turnover. Because the final assessment for the relevant year was made after the amendment took effect, the revised assessment issued later fell within the five-year period and was not time-barred. The contrary argument that the later final assessment date could not be relied on was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the writ petition challenging the revised assessment was maintainable in view of the alternate appellate remedy, and whether the revised assessment was barred by limitation under Section 16(1)(a) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: The petitioner had an efficacious statutory right of appeal against the impugned order, which weighed against exercise of writ jurisdiction. On merits, Section 16(1)(a) prescribed a period of five years for reopening escaped turnover from the date of the final assessment order by the assessing authority. The amendment substituting the relevant expression took effect from 1.7.2002. Since the final assessment for the assessment year 1997-1998 was made on 2.7.2002, the impugned order dated 23.8.2004 fell within the statutory period of limitation. The contention that the later final assessment date could not be taken into account was rejected.

Conclusion: The writ petition was not maintainable in the face of the alternate remedy, and the revised assessment was within time under Section 16(1)(a) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act.

Ratio Decidendi: For computing limitation under Section 16(1)(a), the relevant date is the date of the final assessment order by the assessing authority, and where an effective statutory appeal is available, writ jurisdiction will ordinarily not be exercised to challenge the assessment.

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