Mandatory assessment limitation under VAT law depends on actual execution date, not a backdated order or signature later in time.

A mandatory outer limit under Section 23(5) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act required the assessment order to be actually brought into existence within six years from the end of the relevant year. For a transaction period ending on 31 March 2015, the limitation expired on 31 March 2021. Although the order was dated 30 March 2021, the digital signature showed that it was executed only on 19 April 2021, so the operative date fell outside the statutory period. The order was therefore treated as barred by the proviso and without jurisdiction, and a backdated order could not cure the defect.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order under Section 23(5) of the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act, 2002 was barred by the proviso limiting such assessment to six years from the end of the relevant year, and whether the order was therefore jurisdiction.

Analysis: The transaction period ended on 31 March 2015. For a notice issued on or after 1 April 2015, the proviso to Section 23(5) mandated that no assessment order could be made after the expiry of six years from the end of the year containing the transaction. On the facts, the six-year period expired on 31 March 2021. Although the order bore the date 30 March 2021, the digital signature showed that it came into existence only on 19 April 2021. The operative date was therefore beyond the statutory limit.

Conclusion: The assessment order was barred by the proviso to Section 23(5) and was passed without jurisdiction; it was liable to be quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute prescribes a mandatory outer limit for making an assessment order, the order is valid only when it is actually brought into existence within that period, and a later digital execution date governs over a backdated order.

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