Limitation bars reassessment and remand where statutory notice is required and fresh proceedings cannot lawfully begin.

Assessments made under section 12(5) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act were treated as bad in law, and that finding was not challenged. Fresh reassessment under section 12(8) required statutory notice, but the three-year limitation period had already expired, so reassessment could not be validly initiated. On that basis, the authority had no power to send the matter back for fresh assessment, because a barred reassessment could not be revived through remand. The remand order was therefore unsustainable, and the assessments had to be annulled.

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Issues: Whether the assessments made under section 12(5) of the Orissa Sales Tax Act could be set aside for fresh assessment under section 12(8) after the period of limitation had expired, and whether the proper course was annulment of the assessments.

Analysis: The assessments under section 12(5) were held to be bad in law, and that finding was not challenged. Fresh proceedings under section 12(8) required the issue of statutory notice, but the prescribed period of three years had already elapsed. Since reassessment proceedings could no longer be validly initiated, the authority could not direct a remand for reassessment. In such circumstances, the assessments themselves were barred by limitation and could not be revived by remand.

Conclusion: The remand order was unsustainable, and the assessments were required to be annulled.

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