Escaped turnover proceedings cannot reopen a final assessment or revive a settled exemption claim under sales tax law.

Proceedings for escaped turnover under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 do not permit reopening of an original assessment that has already attained finality. Where the reassessment is confined to escaped turnover, the appellate or revisional authority cannot use that process to revive or grant exemption on turnover already concluded in the original assessment. Section 16(1)(a) was treated as limited to escaped turnover, while any broader reassessment of turnover at a different rate stood on a separate footing. The settled exemption claim was therefore not entertainable in the escaped-turnover proceedings, and the revived tax assessment was upheld.

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Issues: Whether, in proceedings relating only to escaped turnover under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, the appellate authority could reopen and grant exemption in respect of turnover that had already attained finality in the original assessment.

Analysis: The dispute arose from a revised assessment confined to escaped turnover under Section 16 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959. The original assessment on the disputed turnover had already been challenged by the assessee and the challenge had ended in finality. The later appellate order could not be used to unsettle that concluded assessment merely because the revised proceedings also referred to the earlier assessment for completeness. Section 16(1)(a) was treated as confined to escaped turnover, while the power to reassess an entire turnover at a lower rate stood on a different footing. In these facts, reopening the settled exemption claim would amount to impermissible review of an assessment that had already become final.

Conclusion: The reopened exemption claim was not entertainable in the escaped-turnover proceedings, and the Joint Commissioner's order was sustained.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the assessment order reviving tax on the turnover in question was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: Proceedings for escaped turnover do not authorise reopening of an original assessment that has already attained finality, and appellate or revisional jurisdiction cannot be used to review settled turnover in the guise of dealing with escaped turnover alone.

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