Pending proceedings are essential for Section 34(8A) reassessment; notice issued after finality lacked jurisdiction.

Section 34(8A) of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act can be invoked only during the course of pending proceedings, making pendency a precondition to valid notice and assessment. The Gujarat HC followed the earlier view that internal scrutiny or a closed assessment is not equivalent to pending proceedings, and that a transaction-specific assessment under Section 34(8A) still must fit within the statutory setting of ongoing proceedings. On the facts, the earlier audit assessment had already attained finality when the notice was issued, so no proceedings were pending. The notice and consequential assessment order were therefore without jurisdiction and liable to be set aside.

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Issues: Whether the notice and assessment order issued under Section 34(8A) of the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003 were valid when no proceedings under the Act were pending.

Analysis: Section 34(8A) permits the prescribed authority to initiate assessment only "during the course of any proceedings under this Act". The precondition of pending proceedings is therefore essential to the exercise of power. The assessment under this provision is transaction-specific, but it remains an assessment under Section 34 and can be invoked only within the statutory setting contemplated by the provision. The Court followed the earlier view that pendency of proceedings is a sine qua non for action under Section 34(8A), and held that internal scrutiny or a closed assessment does not amount to pending proceedings. On the facts, the earlier audit assessment had already attained finality and no proceedings were pending when the notice was issued.

Conclusion: The notice and consequential assessment order were without jurisdiction and were liable to be set aside.

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