Limitation under sales tax law barred assessments, and a later amendment could not revive proceedings already time-barred.

Assessment orders for 2003-04 and 2004-05 under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act were held time-barred because no notice under Section 17 or Section 17D was served within the statutory period. The Finance Act, 2011 amendment to Section 17(6) could not validate those completed-bar assessments, as the amended provision applied only to assessments still pending on the date of amendment. A later extension of the assessment period cannot revive proceedings where limitation had already expired. The impugned assessments were therefore quashed and consequential relief followed.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders for the assessment years 2003-04 and 2004-05 were barred by limitation under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, and whether the subsequent amendment to Section 17(6) could validate assessments that had already become time-barred.

Analysis: The assessments for the relevant years ought to have been completed by the statutory deadlines fixed under Section 17 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. No notice under Section 17 or Section 17D had been served on the petitioner within those periods, with the result that the assessments had already become time-barred before the amendment introduced by the Finance Act, 2011. The amended provision applied only to assessments that were pending on the date of amendment, and therefore could not assist in resurrecting proceedings that had already been barred by lapse of time. The reasoning was supported by the principle that a later amendment enlarging the time for assessment does not confer power to reopen matters where the limitation period had already expired.

Conclusion: The assessment orders were not legally sustainable and were quashed.

Final Conclusion: The petitioner succeeded, and the impugned assessments were set aside with consequential relief.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory amendment extending the time for assessment cannot revive an assessment that had already become barred by limitation before the amendment took effect.

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