Statutory bar on delayed provisional assessment makes an order beyond the seizure period void for want of jurisdiction.

The fourth proviso to section 28(6) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act bars making a provisional assessment after 180 days from seizure of accounts and records. That limit applies to the making of the assessment order itself, not merely the commencement of proceedings, so an order passed beyond the period is void for want of jurisdiction rather than a curable irregularity. The amendment was operative when the impugned order was made, and the challenge was maintainable despite arguments based on merger or infructuousness. The writ challenge was accepted and the provisional assessment was quashed, leaving the revenue free to proceed with regular assessment in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether a provisional assessment order passed beyond 180 days from the date of seizure was barred by the fourth proviso to section 28(6) of the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957 and was liable to be quashed for want of jurisdiction.

Analysis: The fourth proviso to section 28(6) expressly prohibits making a provisional assessment after 180 days from the date of seizure of accounts, registers, records and documents. The controlling language is directed to the making of the assessment order itself and not merely to the initiation of proceedings. An order passed after the expiry of that period is therefore not a mere irregularity but an act done beyond statutory authority. The amendment introducing the proviso was operative on the date of the impugned order, and the statutory bar had to be given full effect when the order was made. The plea of merger or infructuousness did not defeat the challenge because the attack was on the original order as one made without jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The provisional assessment order passed after the statutory period was without jurisdiction and was quashed.

Final Conclusion: The writ remedy was accepted on the jurisdictional challenge, while leaving the revenue authorities free to proceed with regular assessment in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a taxing statute prohibits the making of a provisional assessment after a specified period from seizure, any order made beyond that period is void for want of jurisdiction and can be interfered with in writ jurisdiction.

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