Prospective extension of limitation barred escaped assessment proceedings initiated beyond the original five-year period.

Proceedings for escaped assessment under Section 25(1) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act were held time-barred because the 2017 amendment extending the limitation period operated prospectively. The Court applied the earlier decisions on limitation, held that the extended period could not validate proceedings already initiated beyond the unamended five-year limit, and found the impugned reassessment order legally unsustainable. The assessment action was therefore quashed as barred by limitation.

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Issues: Whether reassessment proceedings initiated under Section 25(1) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act were barred by limitation and whether the impugned order could be sustained when the amendment extending the period was prospective.

Analysis: Section 25(1) permitted initiation of escaped assessment proceedings within the prescribed period. The Court accepted that the controversy on limitation had already been settled by the earlier decisions relied upon, and held that the 2017 amendment extending the limitation period operated prospectively. Since the proceedings were initiated beyond the applicable five-year period, the impugned order was not legally sustainable.

Conclusion: The impugned order was quashed and the assessment action was held to be time-barred.

Ratio Decidendi: An amendment extending the statutory period for initiating escaped assessment proceedings applies prospectively, and proceedings commenced beyond the unamended limitation period are invalid.

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