Limitation for sales tax reassessment remained intact despite deeming fiction under section 17A; belated orders were quashed.

Section 17A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 was construed as a deeming provision that kept certain pre-1 April 1993 reassessments pending, but it did not remove the limitation period under section 17(8). Reassessments pursuant to appellate or revisional orders still had to be completed within four years from the end of the year in which the order was received, and pending matters as on 1 April 1993 had to be completed by 30 September 1998. Because the notices and reassessment orders were issued only in 2003, they were time-barred and liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether reassessment proceedings pursuant to remand orders under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 were barred by limitation, and whether section 17A displaced the time-limit prescribed for completion of reassessment under section 17(8).

Analysis: Section 17A was construed as a deeming provision that treated certain pre-1 April 1993 assessments and reassessments as pending notwithstanding earlier judgments, but it did not itself create an unlimited period for completion. The time-limit for reassessment remained governed by section 17(8), under which reassessments pursuant to appellate or revisional orders had to be completed within four years from the expiry of the year in which the order was received, and in any event pending matters as on 1 April 1993 had to be completed by 30 September 1998. As the notices and assessment orders were issued in 2003, they were far beyond the statutory period.

Conclusion: The reassessment orders were barred by limitation and were quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 17A of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 only deems certain reassessments to be pending and does not exclude the limitation period prescribed by section 17(8) for completion of reassessment pursuant to appellate or revisional orders.

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