TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (9) TMI 1533
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... the assessment of the respondent-assessee for the year 2003-04 as barred by limitation. 2. The assessment of the respondent-assessee, was initiated pursuant to a pre-assessment notice dated 10.06.2010 and completed ex-parte on 18.08.2010. The first appeal was unsuccessful. In the second appeal, the Tribunal, by the impugned order, found that the assessment ought to have been finalised within the period prescribed under Section 17(6) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the 'KGST Act' for short), and insofar as it is not so done, the appeal was allowed. The Tribunal also relied on the principles laid down by a learned Single Judge of this Court in the judgment dated 27.11.2015 in W.P.(C) No. 11049 of 2012....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....r Section 17(6) of the Act. The provisions of the Act provide for finalisation of assessment under Section 17(3), which reads as under: Sec.17 (3) "If no return is submitted by the dealer under sub-section (1) within the prescribed period, or if the return submitted by him appears to the assessing authority to be incorrect or incomplete, the assessing authority shall, after making such enquiry as it may consider necessary and after taking into account all relevant materials gathered by it, assess the dealer to the best of its judgment:" Therefore, an assessment requires to be taken up when: i. No return is submitted by a dealer; or ii. If the return appears to be incorrect/ incomplete, Originally, there was ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....arified that the extension of time granted for completion of assessments is applicable in all cases where regular assessments have not been completed before the date fixed for completion of assessment in the respective years." 9. By the Finance Act, 2010, the fourth proviso and the explanation added as above were further substituted by the insertion of two provisos as under: "Provided also that the assessment to the years upto and including the year 2004-05 pending as on 31st March, 2010 shall be completed on or before the 31st day of March, 2011 : Provided further that in cases where any assessment completed under this Act has been reopened with the permission of the Commissioner, the time limit mentioned in Section 19....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....be pending till a final order of assessment was made on the said return". 11. However, we notice that the Apex Court, in the afore decision, was considering four variations in the matter of assessment of a registered dealer. The variations have been noticed by the Apex Court as under: "(1) He submits a return by the date proscribed and pays the tax due in terms of the said return; the Commissioner accepts the correctness of the return and appropriates the amount paid towards the tax due for the period covered by the return. (2) The Commissioner is not satisfied with the correctness of the return: he issues a notice to him under section 11(2) and makes an enquiry as provided under the Act, but does not finalize the asses....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... with the last contingency." In the case at hand, a perusal of Annexure-A assessment order shows that the respondent-assessee had not filed any returns during the year under assessment. Therefore, the case of the respondent-assessee cannot be stated to be falling under the first or second variation noticed by the Apex Court, as above. The case of the assessee herein would fall under variation numbers 3 and 4, as noticed by the Apex Court. 12. With respect to variation under the fourth situation, the question as above has been answered as under by the Court: "It is manifest that in the case of a registered dealer the proceedings before the Commissioner starts factually when a return is made or when a notice is issued to him ei....