Reopening limitation under tax law follows the amended period in force when notice is issued, absent saving protection.

A reassessment notice issued under the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act after the limitation period had been shortened from eight years to five years was held to be beyond jurisdiction. The limitation for reopening was treated as procedural, so the amended section 12 governed the officer's authority on the date of notice. Section 6 of the Rajasthan General Clauses Act, 1955 did not preserve the earlier longer period because there is no vested right in a mere procedural power, and no saving clause protected action that had become time-barred under the amended law. The notice and resulting reassessment proceedings could not be sustained.

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Issues: Whether the assessing officer could validly issue notice for reopening the assessment under section 12 of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 after the amendment reducing the limitation period from eight years to five years, and whether section 6 of the Rajasthan General Clauses Act, 1955 preserved the earlier longer period.

Analysis: The limitation for initiating reassessment proceedings was treated as part of the procedural law governing the exercise of taxing power. The amendment to section 12 shortened the period for issuing notice, and on the date the notice was issued the amended provision alone governed the officer's jurisdiction. The repeal-saving principle in section 6 of the Rajasthan General Clauses Act, 1955 did not assist the Revenue because there is no vested right in a mere procedure or in the future exercise of statutory power, though vested substantive rights may survive repeal. The analogy drawn from limitation law supported the view that the law in force on the date of institution or exercise of power controls the remedy or authority to act, and no saving clause protected actions that had already become time-barred under the amended provision.

Conclusion: The notice issued after expiry of the five-year period was without jurisdiction and the reassessment proceedings could not be sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: When a taxing statute prescribes the time and conditions for reopening an assessment, the authority's power must be exercised according to the law in force on the date of such exercise, and a shortened limitation period applies unless a saving provision expressly preserves the earlier period.

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