Appeal maintainable against fresh assessment after cancellation of ex parte order; statutory bar does not cover the new assessment.

An appeal lies against a fresh assessment made after cancellation of an ex parte assessment order under section 12-D of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act. Once the ex parte assessment is cancelled, the assessing authority must complete a fresh assessment under section 12, and the statutory bar in section 12-D(3) is confined to an appeal against refusal to cancel the ex parte assessment. It does not extend to the later fresh assessment order. The appellate authorities were therefore wrong to treat the appeals as not maintainable, and the matters were remanded for disposal on merits.

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Issues: Whether an appeal lies against a fresh assessment made after cancellation of an ex parte assessment order under section 12-D of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: Under section 12-D(1), once the ex parte assessment is cancelled, the assessing authority is required to make a fresh assessment in accordance with section 12. The bar in section 12-D(3) applies only to an appeal against the order refusing to cancel the ex parte assessment order. It does not extend to a fresh assessment order passed after cancellation. The appellate authorities therefore erred in treating the appeals against the fresh assessments as not maintainable.

Conclusion: The appeals against the fresh assessment orders were maintainable.

Final Conclusion: The matters were remanded to the first appellate authority for disposal of the appeals on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: The statutory bar on appeal under section 12-D(3) is confined to an order passed on an application for cancellation of an ex parte assessment and does not preclude an appeal against a subsequent fresh assessment made under section 12.

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