Fresh assessment on suo motu review remains appealable; original order becomes non-operative and appellate merits must be examined.

Where an assessing authority invokes suo motu review and passes a fresh assessment order, the reviewed order becomes the operative assessment and the original assessment ceases to exist for appellate purposes. The assessee therefore retains the statutory right to appeal against the fresh order even if no separate appeal was filed against the original assessment. The appellate authority was not justified in treating such an appeal as a revision or declining to examine it on merits. The impugned appellate order was set aside and the matter remitted for disposal of the appeal under the correct appellate provision.

---

---

Issues: Whether an assessment order passed on suo motu review constituted a fresh assessment order amenable to appeal notwithstanding that no appeal had been filed against the original assessment order, and whether the appellate authority was justified in treating the appeal as a revision.

Analysis: Once the assessing authority reviews an assessment on its own motion and passes a fresh order, the original assessment is treated as having ceased to exist and the review order becomes the operative assessment order. On that footing, the assessee retains the statutory right to challenge the fresh order in appeal even though the original assessment was not separately appealed against. The appellate authority therefore could not refuse to examine the appeal on merits by characterising it as a revision.

Conclusion: The appeal against the reviewed assessment was maintainable, and the appellate authority's refusal to entertain it on the stated ground was unjustified.

Final Conclusion: The impugned appellate order was set aside and the matter was remitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Commercial Taxes for disposal of the appeal on merits under the correct appellate provision.

Ratio Decidendi: A fresh assessment order passed upon suo motu review is the operative order of assessment, rendering the original order non est for appellate purposes and preserving the assessee's right of appeal against the reviewed order.

---