2008 (12) TMI 699

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.... assessment; that it is not permissible for the second respondent, the Commercial Tax Officer Audit-13, DVO-1, Gandhinagar, Bangalore-9, to examine the matters in such a manner that the respondent is neither competent nor the prescribed authority to examine the concluded assessments which are to be reopened; that the proceedings are one without jurisdiction and therefore the communications at annexures U1, U2, V and X in the series are incompetent and not valid; such proposal and action are required to be quashed.   Submission of Sri Sarangan, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner, is that assessment for these years had been finalised by the prescribed authority, the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes; that the firs....

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....he jurisdiction for reassessment under section 39 of the Act. While it is true that any power is required to be exercised in a bona fide manner and for a legitimate purpose, a mere communication apprising the petitioner that the authorities are desirous of verifying the correctness of concluded proceedings, including production of books of account and records which may merit a re-look in itself cannot be characterised as an act without jurisdiction, or an act which is mala fide or with any ulterior purpose. So far as the question of jurisdiction is concerned, the Act does not make distinction vis-a-vis the rank of the officer but the requirement is that the officer of the Department should have been authorised to act under the Act as "pre....

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....st that a particular officer alone has to examine the affairs of the business transactions of the assessee. The only requirement under the statutory provision is the person should be a "prescribed authority". Who is an assessing authority or the prescribed authority, at the relevant point of time will be decided by the Government or the Commissioner even as per the statutory provisions. I do not find any inhibition or limitation placed on either the Government or the Commissioner for the purpose of section 2(24) of the Act to prescribe only one authority as "prescribed authority". There may be several authorities who are also designated with the power to act as "prescribed authority". That by itself will not render the action bad. The only ....