Reassessment beyond limitation requires prior recorded reasons and Commissioner approval; later approval cannot validate the notice.

Reassessment beyond four years under the Assam General Sales Tax Act was valid only if the statutory preconditions were satisfied before notice, including prior recording of reasons and approval by the Commissioner. Those requirements operated as a condition precedent to the notice's validity, and a later approval could not cure the defect. A precedent dealing with an irregularity in assessment proceedings was distinguished because the present matter concerned a notice issued after the limitation period without compliance with the mandatory safeguard. The reassessment notice was therefore invalid and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether reassessment under Section 18 of the Assam General Sales Tax Act, 1993 could be initiated beyond four years without prior recording of reasons and approval by the Commissioner.

Analysis: Section 18 permits reassessment beyond four years only where the statutory conditions are satisfied, including prior satisfaction and recording of reasons by the Commissioner before issuance of notice. The requirement is a condition precedent to the validity of the notice and cannot be cured by a subsequent approval. The relied-upon precedent was distinguished because it dealt with an irregularity in assessment proceedings, whereas the present case concerned a notice issued beyond the prescribed limitation period without fulfilment of the mandatory statutory safeguard.

Conclusion: The reassessment notice issued beyond four years without prior Commissioner approval and recorded reasons was invalid, and the issue was decided in favour of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute makes prior recording of reasons and approval a condition precedent for reassessment beyond the prescribed limitation, such requirement must be fulfilled before issuance of notice, and a later approval cannot cure the defect.

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