Assessment order takes effect only on communication, so limitation runs from notice to the assessee under the Act.

Where the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act required notice to the assessee, an assessment order did not attain legal effect when merely made or signed; it became binding only upon communication under the statutory scheme. Limitation under section 35(2) had to be tested with reference to the communicated order, not the internal making of the assessment. Because the notice of demand communicating the assessment was issued after expiry of the five-year period, the assessment was barred by limitation and invalid. The assessment and the proceedings founded on it were therefore quashed.

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Issues: Whether an agricultural income-tax assessment order came into force only on communication for the purpose of limitation under section 35(2) of the Kerala Agricultural Income-tax Act.

Analysis: The assessment was made within five years from the end of the year in which the income was first assessable, but the notice of demand communicating the assessment was issued after the limitation period. The statutory scheme, including section 30, required communication of the assessment order to the assessee before it could become effective. An assessment order is not merely signed or made in a unilateral sense; it becomes binding only when communicated, because the person affected must be put on notice of the order.

Conclusion: The assessment order became effective only on communication, which occurred after expiry of the limitation period. The assessment was therefore barred by limitation and is invalid.

Final Conclusion: The assessment and the proceedings based on it were quashed because the order had no operative effect before the statutory time limit expired.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute contemplates notice to the assessee, an assessment order attains legal effect only upon communication, and limitation must be tested with reference to that communicated order.

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