Limitation barred belated sales tax assessments, and appellate orders setting them aside were upheld.

Assessment orders for the relevant years were held to be barred by limitation under the amended limitation provision, because for assessment years up to 1997-98 no valid order could be passed after 30.4.2001. Orders passed in April 2002 were therefore beyond the permissible period and could not be sustained. The first appellate authority's orders setting aside those assessments were consistent with the settled legal position, and a remand for fresh proceedings was considered unnecessary because the controversy on merits was already covered.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders for the relevant assessment years were barred by limitation under Section 11(4) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948, and whether the orders of the first appellate authority setting them aside were liable to be upheld.

Analysis: The period of limitation for passing assessment orders under the amended provision had already been settled, and for assessment years up to 1997-98 no valid assessment order could be passed after 30.4.2001. The assessment orders in the present batch were passed in April 2002, well beyond the permissible period. As the assessment orders were time-barred, the orders of the first appellate authority were in conformity with the settled legal position. The Court also found that sending the matters back for another round of proceedings would serve no purpose because the controversy on merits was already covered.

Conclusion: The assessment orders were barred by limitation and could not be sustained. The orders of the first appellate authority were upheld and the assessee's challenge succeeded.

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