Statutory limitation for sales tax assessment runs from the last return date, barring notices issued after three years.

An amendment to section 11 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 introduced a substantive time limit requiring assessment to be completed within three years from the last date for furnishing the last return. The article states that the governing law is the law in force when the return is filed or required to be filed, so the amended limitation applied where the Ordinance was in force before the return fell due. On that basis, a notice issued after expiry of the three-year period was treated as beyond jurisdiction and not sustainable.

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Issues: Whether the amended provision prescribing that assessment must be completed within three years from the last date for furnishing the last return applied to the assessment year 1997-98, and whether the notice issued in 2002 for completing that assessment was valid.

Analysis: The substituted provision in section 11 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 introduced a time-limit for passing the assessment order within three years from the last date prescribed for the last return. The Ordinance came into force before the last return for the relevant year was due, and the return was filed thereafter. The governing principle applied was that the law in force on the date when the return is filed or required to be filed governs the assessee's rights and obligations, and the amendment created a substantive right in favour of the assessee to have the assessment finalized within the prescribed period. On that basis, the later notice issued after expiry of the three-year period could not survive.

Conclusion: The notice issued for finalisation of assessment was without jurisdiction and not sustainable, and the writ petition was allowed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an amendment to the sales tax law creates a substantive time-bound right in favour of the assessee, that right is governed by the law in force when the return is filed or required to be filed, and assessment proceedings initiated beyond the prescribed statutory period are invalid.

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