Regular assessment after composition option may be sought where binding precedent permits conversion under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act.

A dealer who had earlier opted for composition of tax under section 17(6) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 could still seek regular assessment under section 5-B, and the assessing authority could not reject that request solely because the composition option had been exercised. The Karnataka HC treated Mycon Construction Limited as controlling authority and noted that it had recognised liberty to choose regular assessment notwithstanding an earlier composition election. On that basis, an endorsement refusing conversion to section 5-B assessment was inconsistent with the governing legal position and was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether a dealer who had opted for composition of tax under section 17(6) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 could subsequently seek regular assessment under section 5-B of that Act, and whether the assessing authority was justified in rejecting that request.

Analysis: The petitioner, a registered contractor, initially sought composition under section 17(6) but later requested that the assessment be completed under section 5-B. The impugned endorsement refused the request on the footing that there was no provision permitting cancellation of the composition option or conversion to regular assessment. The decision in Mycon Construction Limited was treated as controlling, where liberty had been reserved to opt for regular assessment under section 5-B notwithstanding an earlier election under section 17(6). On that footing, the rejection of the request was inconsistent with the governing legal position.

Conclusion: The request to be assessed under section 5-B could not be rejected merely because composition had earlier been opted for under section 17(6), and the endorsement refusing the request was unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, the impugned endorsement was set aside, and the assessing authority was required to reconsider the application in accordance with law and the earlier precedent.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessee who has earlier opted for composition of tax may, in the circumstances recognised by binding precedent, seek regular assessment under the alternative statutory provision, and an authority cannot such request solely on the ground that composition had once been elected.

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