Section 73A does not bar representation proceedings under section 56; it limits Controller-initiated reassessment action instead.

Section 73A of the Estate Duty Act was construed as a limitation on proceedings initiated by the Controller for levy or reassessment of estate duty, such as escaped-assessment proceedings, and not as a bar to the mandatory procedure under section 56 for applications seeking a grant of representation or succession certificate. The statutory scheme was read as requiring the prescribed account or application copy and the Controller's certificate before the civil court acts, and the omission of section 73A from section 56, contrasted with its express reference in section 59, was treated as significant. On that construction, the notice under section 58(2) was not without jurisdiction on the section 73A objection.

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Issues: Whether section 73A of the Estate Duty Act, 1953 bars proceedings under section 56 and the consequential notice under section 58(2), so as to render the Controller without jurisdiction.

Analysis: Section 73A was construed in the setting of the statutory scheme governing accounts, provisional assessment, regular assessment, and reassessment. The relevant provisions showed that, where a grant of representation or succession certificate is sought, the applicant must furnish the prescribed account or copy of the application and obtain the Controller's certificate under the Act before the civil court can make the grant. The time bar in section 73A was held to govern proceedings initiated at the instance of the Controller, such as escaped-assessment proceedings, and not the mandatory procedure followed upon an application under section 56. Reading section 73A as applying to section 56 would make the latter unworkable, because the statutory certificate could not be issued in cases where no assessment had yet been made and no claim could be certified as due or paid. The omission of section 73A from section 56, contrasted with its express mention in section 59, was treated as significant.

Conclusion: Section 73A does not bar proceedings under section 56, and the impugned notice under section 58(2) was not without jurisdiction on that ground; the appeal succeeded and the writ relief granted by the single judge was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: The limitation in section 73A applies to proceedings commenced by the Controller for levy or reassessment of estate duty, but it does not control the mandatory statutory process triggered by an application for representation or succession certificate under section 56.

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