Statutory limitation for reassessment barred an order passed beyond the outer time limit and rendered it unsustainable.

Section 40(2) of the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003 bars an assessment or reassessment order after eight years from the end of the relevant assessment year. For the 2007-2008 financial year, that outer limit expired on 31.03.2016. A reassessment order made on 22.11.2022 was therefore beyond the statutory period and could not be sustained. Where the statute fixes a time limit for passing the order itself, compliance with that limit is mandatory; an order made after expiry is without authority and liable to be set aside.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment order passed on 22.11.2022 was barred by limitation under Section 40(2) of the Assam Value Added Tax Act, 2003.

Analysis: Section 40(2) prohibits an assessment or reassessment order under Section 40(1) after the expiry of eight years from the end of the year for which the tax is assessable. For the financial year 2007-2008, the limitation period expired on 31.03.2016. The impugned reassessment order was made only on 22.11.2022, well beyond the statutory period. Since the statute fixes the outer limit for passing the order itself, the reassessment could not be sustained.

Conclusion: The reassessment order was time-barred and liable to be set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute prescribes an outer time limit for making an assessment or reassessment order, any order passed beyond that period is without authority and cannot be sustained.

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