Deputy Commissioner Vs Hakeem K. (Kerala High Court)
Kerala High Court held that since statute doesn’t provide for any outer time limit, assessment under section 17D of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 should be finalized within reasonable period.
Facts- The provisions of Section 17D of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, provide for finalisation of assessment by a “Fast Track Team”. Respondents in the writ petition forming the team issued notices on 13.02.2012 proposing finalisation of the assessment. The petitioner filed objections pointing out that the proposal, as above, was barred by limitation, with reference to the provisions of Section 17(6) of the Act. Section 17(6), inserted with effect from 01.04.1993, for the first time, provided for a time limit within which an assessment under the Act was required to be completed. Originally, the period for such finalisation was “4 years” and with effect from 31.03.2002, the period was substituted as “5 years”. After filing an objection as above, the writ petitioner approached this Court seeking to challenge the notices on the ground of limitation. During the pendency of the writ petition, the proposals in the notices were finalised pursuant to assessment orders. The petitioner has incorporated a challenge against those assessment orders also in the writ petition.
