TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1967 (2) TMI 66
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....r the Act and was at the material time carrying on business in vegetable ghee, sugar and other commodities. The assessment year in question commenced from April 1, 1955, and ended on March 31, 1956. The dealer furnished four quarterly returns as required by the Rules framed under the Act, viz., for the period April to June, 1954 on October 1, 1954; July to September, 1954 on December 16, 1954; October to December, 1954 on March 12, 1955 and for January to March, 1955 on June 16, 1956. Though these returns were not filed within 30 days after expiry of each of the quarters as required by the rules, no objection was taken by the Assessing Authority. The firm deposited three sums at the time of filing the returns aggregating to Rs. 10,649-4-0. Subsequently, it paid a further sum of Rs. 14,477 on the basis of those returns. Not satisfied with these returns, the Assessing Authority issued a notice under section 11(2) in Form S.T. XIV which is a comprehensive form and which admittedly was served on the dealer on January 11, 1957, i.e., before three years expired from each of the respective dates for filing of the said returns. This is clear from the fact that the date for filing the firs....
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....rder on the best judgment basis cannot be conclusive, for, merely calling it as the best judgment assessment, the order does not become one. Section 10 of the Act provides that the tax payable shall be paid in the manner thereinafter provided and at such intervals as may be prescribed. Rule 20 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Rules, 1949, provides that every registered dealer, other than those referred to in rules 17, 18 and 19 (with whom we are not presently concerned) shall furnish returns quarterly within 30 days from the expiry of each quarter. Rule 25 provides that all returns which are required to be furnished under these rules, shall be signed by the registered dealer or his agent and shall be sent to the appropriate Assessing Authority together with the treasury or the bank receipt for proof of the payment of the tax due. Rule 40 provides that a dealer and his parnter or partners shall be jointly and severally responsible for payment of the tax, and that every dealer liable to pay the tax shall pay it quarterly unless directed otherwise by the appropriate Assessing Authority. Sub-rule (3) provides that the tax due for any quarter shall be paid before furnishing the return f....
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....ibed date, the Assessing Authority shall within three years after the expiry of such period, after giving the dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, proceed to assess to the best of his judgment, the amount of tax, if any, due from the dealer. Sub-section (6) deals with a case where a dealer has failed to apply for registration, in which case the Assessing Authority is empowered within the prescribed period to assess such a dealer to the best of his judgment. Since the firm in the instant case was duly registered, the question of application of sub-section (6) does not arise. Section 11 envisages the following cases: (a) Where the dealer duly files returns and the authority is satisfied with such returns and accepts them and formally passes an order of assessment which means no more than that he appropriates the amount deposited by the dealer towards the tax. (b) Where the authority is not satisfied with the returns, and issues a notice calling upon the dealer to appear and produce evidence in support of the returns, the authority holds an enquiry under sub- section (3) and then makes an order of assessment. (c) Where the registered dealer having furnished returns fail....
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....inancial year ending on March 31, 1956. In respect of each year the Sales Tax Assessing Authority served three successive notices on him on March 7, 1958, April 4, 1958 and August 18, 1959, requiring him to attend with the documents and other evidence in support of his returns. It was, however, only in the last of the said notices that he stated that on failure to produce the documents and other evidence mentioned therein, the case would be decided on "best judgment assessment basis". The petitioner did not comply with any of the notices, but on receiving the last notice he filed a writ petition in this Court challenging the right of the Authority to make the best judgment assessment. Sarkar, J. (as he then was), who spoke for the Court, posing the question as how to compute the three years mentioned in sub-section (4) observed: "The sub-section says 'within three years after the expiry of such period.' So the three years have to be counted from the expiry of the period mentioned. What then is that period? The words are 'such period.' The period referred, therefore, is the period mentioned earlier in the sub-section, and that is the period in respect of which returns had been furn....
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....r and defaulted in respect of the other quarters. A notice was served on him on August 13, 1954, under section 11(1) and (2) of the C.P. and Berar Sales Tax Act, 1947, in respect of the turnover of the firm for the said period. He filed the returns subsequently but contended that the proceedings before the Sales Tax Commissioner were barred by time. He then filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the said proceedings. For the year 1950-51, he had filed no returns at all and was served with a notice on October 15, 1954, under section 11(4) of the Act. That notice was within three years from October 16, 1951, which fell within the fourth quarter of the year in question. He also filed another writ petition for a similar relief in respect of that year. The contention was that whatever may be said in the case of an unregistered dealer, in the case of a registered dealer, the proceedings commence from the date of the registration certificate within which he has a statutory obligation to furnish his returns. This Court held that assessment proceedings under the Act must be held to be pending from the time they are initiated until they are terminated by a final order of assessm....
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....h an assessment order is finalised after the expiry of such period. This decision is, therefore, a clear authority for the proposition that assessment proceedings commence in the case of a registered dealer either when he furnishes a return or when a notice is issued to him under section 11(2) of the present Act, and that if such proceedings are taken within the prescribed time though the assessment is finalised subsequently, even after the expiry of the prescribed period, no question of limitation would arise. In the instant case the dealer filed returns. Though they were filed after the expiry of 30 days from the relevant date, they were not rejected by the department on that ground. In fact the notice dated January 11, 1957, issued under section 11(2) was on the footing that returns were filed, but the Assessing Authority was not satisfied with them and desired evidence to establish that the returns were full and complete. It is also an admitted fact that the dealer appeared and produced books of accounts in answer to the said notice and thereupon the officer held an enquiry. The notice dated January 11, 1957, was within time though the assessment order was made much after the ....