Vested right of appeal and amended deposit under agricultural income-tax law applied only after assessment notice commenced the lis.

The right of appeal under the Bihar Agricultural Income-tax Act was treated as a vested right that accrues when assessment proceedings commence by notice under section 19(2), not when the assessment is later completed or tax liability is finally quantified. On that basis, the amended proviso to section 25(1), requiring deposit of twelve and a half per cent of assessed tax as a condition to entertain an appeal, did not apply to the 1949-50 year because the notice predated the amendment, so the appeal could not be rejected on that ground. For 1950-51, the notice was issued after the amendment came into force, so the proviso applied and the appeal could be refused for non-payment of the prescribed deposit.

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Issues: Whether the amended proviso to section 25(1) of the Bihar Agricultural Income-tax Act, requiring deposit of twelve and a half per cent of the assessed tax as a condition for entertaining an appeal, applied to appeals arising from assessment proceedings already initiated before the amendment came into force, and whether the appeals for the two accounting years were therefore liable to be rejected.

Analysis: The right of appeal was held to be a vested right that accrues on the commencement of the lis, that is, when assessment proceedings are initiated by notice under section 19(2), and not on the later date of assessment or on the date when the tax liability is created under the charging provision. Since the notice for the accounting year 1949-50 was issued before the amendment inserted by section 8 of the Bihar Finance Act, 1951, the old law governed that year and the deposit requirement could not be imposed. For the accounting year 1950-51, the notice under section 19(2) was issued after the amendment came into force, so the proviso applied and the appeal could be refused for non-payment of the prescribed percentage of tax.

Conclusion: The amended proviso applied to the appeal for the accounting year 1950-51 and did not apply to the appeal for the accounting year 1949-50.

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