Jurisdictional precondition for reassessment fails where no escaped turnover, valid notice, or hearing is shown.

Reassessment under section 19-A of the Assam Sales Tax Act, 1947 requires the assessing authority to be satisfied, on post-assessment information, that taxable turnover has escaped assessment or been under-assessed; that satisfaction is a jurisdictional condition precedent. On the undisputed record, there was no material showing escaped turnover or proving sale and purchase of tea by the petitioner in Assam, while the petitioner had produced material indicating it acted only as a transporter. The record also did not establish service of a valid notice or grant of hearing, and no affidavit controverted that assertion. The reassessment proceedings were therefore without jurisdiction and void ab initio, and the reassessment and revisional orders were set aside.

---

---

Issues: Whether the reassessment initiated under section 19-A of the Assam Sales Tax Act, 1947 was valid when there was no material to show escaped turnover, the petitioner asserted that it had acted only as a transporter, and no valid notice or opportunity of hearing was established.

Analysis: Section 19-A empowers reassessment only when the authority is satisfied, on information received after the original assessment, that taxable turnover has escaped assessment or has been under-assessed. That satisfaction is a condition precedent to jurisdiction. The undisputed record showed no material proving sale and purchase of tea by the petitioner within Assam, while the petitioner had produced material indicating that it merely transported the goods. In the absence of any contrary material, the finding that the petitioner had traded in tea was unsustainable. The record also did not establish service of a valid notice or grant of hearing before reassessment, and the respondents did not file an affidavit controverting that assertion.

Conclusion: The reassessment proceedings were without jurisdiction and void ab initio, and the reassessment order as well as the revisional order were liable to be set aside.

---