TMI Blog1978 (11) TMI 142X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in holding that the service of assessment order on Shri Roshanlal did not amount to a communication of the said assessment order within the meaning of section 55(4) of the Act as required by law?" The facts giving rise to these references are as follows: Sales Tax Reference No. 149 of 1976 relates to the period 16th May, 1960, to 31st March, 1961, Sales Tax Reference No. 150 of 1976 relates to the period 1st April, 1961, to 31st March, 1962, and Sales Tax Reference No. 151 of 1976 relates to the period 1st April, 1962, to 31st March, 1963. The Sales Tax Officer assessed the respondent-assessees, who are a firm registered as a dealer under the said Act, in respect of the said periods by separate orders of assessment on 30th October, 19 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... period of limitation had not begun to run at all till the appeals were actually filed before the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax, when it could be deemed that the assessment orders were communicated to the respondents. On behalf of the department it was submitted that, although the assessment orders were not served personally on the respondents, they were served on Roshanlal and that amounted to proper service by reason of the written authority dated 19th April, 1963, given by the respondents in favour of the said Roshanlal. The Tribunal upheld the contention of the respondents that there was no valid communication of the assessment orders to the respondents in law, inter alia, on the ground that the authority issued in favour of the sa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (4) of section 38 of the said Act is a notice of demand. Chapter XII of the said Rules, as it stood at the relevant time, namely, before its amendment on 21st November, 1966, dealt with the question of service of notices. Rule 68 is included in the said chapter. The material portion of the said rule, as it stood at the relevant time, read as follows: "(1) Notices under the Act or under these rules shall be served by one of the following methods: (a) by delivery by hand of a copy of the notice to the addressee or to a person declared by him in form 13 or to any other agent duly authorised in this behalf by him, or to a person regularly employed by him in connection with the business in respect of which he is registered as a dealer, or to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent issued in connection with the said proceedings and to take all necessary steps in the said proceedings". The first question which needs to be considered in connection with this authority is regarding the point of time at which the said authority can be said to terminate. In view of the observation of the Supreme Court in Sales Tax Officer v. Sudarsanam Iyengar Sons[1970] 25 S.T.C. 252 at 255 (S.C.)., it must be taken as firmly established that assessment proceedings under the said Act must be held to be pending from the time the proceedings are initiated until they are terminated by a final order of assessment. This makes it clear that the proceedings under the said Act come to an end with a final order of assessment. In the present ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 8 of the said Rules, to which we have referred earlier, clearly shows that an order was not considered to be included in the connotation of the term "document" by the framers of the said Rules. It is also significant that clause (1) of rule 69 of the said Rules, which deals with the question of certified copies of documents, reads as follows: "Any person who is a party to a proceeding under the Act or under these rules may apply to the appropriate authority having jurisdiction in respect of such proceeding or having the custody of the records pertaining thereto, for a certified copy of a document produced or filed in such proceeding or of an order passed by such authority." This would again show that an order is not regarded as being in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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