Reassessment jurisdiction under VAT law requires a formal assessment order; deemed assessment alone cannot support reopening.

Reassessment under Section 22(1) of the Chhattisgarh VAT Act could be initiated only where a formal assessment order had been passed, because the limitation period and jurisdiction to reopen run from that order. A deemed assessment under Section 21(2) does not amount to an assessment order for reopening purposes, so the jurisdictional prerequisite for Section 22(1) was absent. The HC therefore held that reassessment on the basis of deemed assessment alone was not competent, and the impugned reassessment and revisional orders were set aside.

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Issues: Whether reassessment under Section 22(1) of the Chhattisgarh Value Added Tax Act, 2005 could be initiated when no formal assessment order had been passed and the assessment stood only as a deemed assessment.

Analysis: The statutory scheme distinguishes between a formal assessment order and a deemed assessment. Reassessment under Section 22(1) is available only where an assessment or reassessment has been made by an order, and the limitation period is reckoned from the date of that order. In the absence of such an order, the essential jurisdictional fact for invoking Section 22(1) does not exist. A deemed assessment under Section 21(2) cannot be treated as an assessment order for the purpose of reopening under Section 22(1).

Conclusion: Reassessment under Section 22(1) was not competent on the basis of a deemed assessment alone, and the reopening proceedings were without jurisdiction.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded, and the impugned reassessment and revisional orders were set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Reassessment powers under the VAT Act can be exercised only after a formal assessment order exists, and a deemed assessment does not satisfy that jurisdictional prerequisite.

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