TMI Blog1966 (10) TMI 137X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... became ineffective because of the continued existence of the proviso. The Amending Act had not come into force when the High Court decided the petition, and consequently, the High Court had no occasion to consider its effect. The second piece of legislation brought to our notice was the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 1964 (Act 20 of 1964), by which also section 19(1) of the new Act was slightly amended. That amendment, however, has no bearing on the point which we are called upon to decide in this appeal, and consequently, needs no consideration. - Civil Appeal No. 548 of 1965, - - - Dated:- 11-10-1966 - SHAH J.C., RAMASWAMI V. AND BHARGAVA V. JJ. Yogeshwar Prasad and M.V. Goswami, for the respondent. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the reassessment. Thereupon, the respondent moved a petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution before the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur, praying for the quashing of the order of the Sales Tax Officer dated 29th October, 1962, and the notice dated 23rd October, 1962. The High Court held that the period of limitation governing the proceedings instituted by the notice dated 23rd October, 1962, was that laid down under section 11A(1) of the repealed Act, so that the proceedings were barred by time. The notice dated 23rd October, 1962, and the subsequent order dated 29th October, 1962, were consequently quashed. The Sales Tax Officer of Jabalpur has now come up to this Court in this appeal by special leave against this ord ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dent's contention was that, in his case, the assessment had been made under the repealed Act, so that the proviso was applicable and the period of limitation for issue of a valid notice was that laid down in section 11A(1) of the repealed Act which is as follows: "11A. (1) If, in consequence of any information which has come into his possession, the Commissioner is satisfied that any turnover of a dealer during any period has been under-assessed or has escaped assessment or assessed at a lower rate or any deduction has been wrongly made therefrom, the Commissioner may, at any time within three calendar years from the expiry of such period, after giving the dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard and after making such enquiry as ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion, certificate or licence) in the exercise of any power conferred by or under the said Act shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken in exercise of the powers conferred by or under this Act, as if this Act were in force on the date on which such thing was done or action was taken. In view of this proviso it has to be held that when this new Act came into force on 1st April, 1959, all rights, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred under the repealed Act by the respondent remained unaffected and intact. The rights and liabilities, which had been acquired or incurred under the repealed Act, included the right or liability to be assessed in a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssment after the expiry of the period prescribed in that sub-section. The proviso to section 52 of the new Act preserved this right of the respondent, and on this ground also, the Sales Tax Officer was not competent to issue the notice for reassessment after that period of limitation had expired. In this connection, learned counsel for the Sales Tax Officer drew our attention to two subsequent pieces of legislation that amended the new Act. The first one of these is the Madhya Pradesh General Sales Tax (Second Amendment) Act, 1963 (Act 23 of 1963) (hereinafter referred to as "the Amending Act"). By section 3 of this Amending Act, section 19(1) of the new Act was amended, so as to introduce some words in the principal clause of section 19( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the High Court decided the petition, and consequently, the High Court had no occasion to consider its effect. However, as we have indicated above, the order made by the High Court remains unaffected even after this amendment, and the decision given that the limitation applicable to the case of the respondent is that laid down by section 11A(1) of the repealed Act is correct. It is true that the amendment in section 19(1) of the new Act made by the Amending Act was given retrospective effect under section 5 of the Amending Act, but that also is immaterial, because, even after the amendment, the provision contained in the proviso had to prevail over the principal clause of section 19(1). The second piece of legislation brought to our no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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