TMI Blog1982 (12) TMI 173X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Officer, Enforcement Branch, on 26th December, 1968. There was no order under section 70 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, transferring the proceedings from the Sales Tax Officer, E(III) Ward, to the Sales Tax Officer, Enforcement Branch, prior to the reassessment order of 26th December, 1968. Such an order transferring the proceedings from the Sales Tax Officer, E(III) Ward, to the Sales Tax Officer, Enforcement Branch, was passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Sales Tax only on 29th November, 1971. By consent this order of transfer has been taken on the record of the reference. 3.. An appeal was preferred from the order of reassessment passed by the Sales Tax Officer, Enforcement Branch, by the assessee to the Assistant Commissioner of Sales Tax. The Assistant Commissioner allowed the appeal in part, scaling down the estimated sales. Against the order of the Assistant Commissioner the assessee filed a second appeal before the Tribunal. The Tribunal came to the conclusion that the reassessment order was passed without jurisdiction inasmuch as the reassessment order was passed without there being any transfer order under section 70 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, transferring ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ers are situated in the same city, locality or place. Explanation.-In this section, the word 'proceedings' in relation to any dealer whose name is specified in any order issued thereunder, means all proceedings under this Act in respect of any year, which may be pending on the date of such order or which may have been completed on or before such date, and includes also all proceedings under this Act which may be commenced after the date of such order in respect of any year in relation to such dealer." 5.. Both the Ordinance as well as the Amending and Validating Act contain a provision validating retrospectively proceedings commenced, continued or completed by officers to whom such proceedings were transferred in certain cases. This provision is contained in section 7 of the Amending and Validating Act which is in terms identical with section 7 of the Ordinance. The relevant provision for the purpose of this reference is contained in section 7, sub-section (1) of the Amending and Validating Act which is as follows: "7. Validation of jurisdiction conferred on certain officers and of Proceedings commenced, continued or completed by them and saving.-(1) Notwithstanding anything ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he transfer has in fact been effected in accordance with the provisions as now amended................" Under section 70 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, prior to its amendment, the Commissioner had the power to transfer the proceedings from one officer to another or to himself; but he was required to give due notice to the parties and to pass an order of transfer in writing after such notice. Under section 70, as amended, the Commissioner is required to pass an order of transfer in writing after giving the parties a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter wherever possible, and after recording his reasons for the transfer. Under the proviso to the amended section 70, however, such opportunity of being heard is not required to be given where the transfer is made to an officer who is situated in the same city, locality or place as the officer from whom the proceedings are to be transferred. Thus, it is open to the Commissioner under the amended section 70, where he is transferring the proceedings from one officer to another in the same city, locality or place, to pass such an order without giving the parties an opportunity of being heard. This was not permissible under ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ction 70 as amended requires an order of transfer. In a case where there is no order of transfer, there cannot be any compliance with the amended section 70. To interpret section 7, sub-section (1), in the manner suggested by Mr. Jetly, would amount to holding that in a proceeding which has been commenced without there being any order of transfer, the proceedings would be valid if the order of transfer is in accordance with the requirements of the amended section 70. This would be an absurd interpretation, where the first half of the clause would contradict the second half. It is a golden rule of construction that a statute must be read as a whole and one provision of an Act should be so construed with reference to the other provisions of the Act as to read harmoniously. This principle of harmonious construction must apply, a fortiori to different parts of the same section, and even more so to the parts of the same sub-section which parts form one sentence. Thus the words "without the proceedings being transferred to him" in the first part of section 7 of the Amending and Validating Act cannot be interpreted as referring to cases where there is a total absence of an order of transf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the purpose of interpreting section 7 of the Amending and Validating Act. Any attempt to interpret section 7 in the light of the Statement of Objects and Reasons, by reading within the provisions of the section cases where no orders of transfer have been passed, leads to absurdity. 8.. It was further submitted by Mr. Jetly that in the present case, there was an order of transfer, although the order of transfer was passed after the conclusion of reassessment proceedings before the "transferee" officer. He submitted that even concluded proceedings can be transferred to another officer. He relied upon the explanation to the amended section 70 which provides, inter alia, that the word "proceedings" means all proceedings under the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, which may be pending on the date of the order of transfer or which may have been completed on or before such date. Mr. Jetly submitted that in view of these provisions, it was open to the Commissioner to pass an order of transfer on 29th November, 1971, even in respect of reassessment proceedings which had been completed. We do not find any merit in this submission. The completed proceedings referred to in the explanation are proc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment Branch, have concurrent jurisdiction to assess and reassess the assessee. In this connection reliance was placed on a notification dated 2nd May, 1960, issued by the State Government under section 20 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959, which specifies against each of the officers mentioned in column 2 of the schedule to the notification, the local area over which such officer shall have jurisdiction. Under this notification, Sales Tax Officer, E Ward, has jurisdiction over E Ward, Sales Tax Officers, Enforcement Branch, Greater Bombay have jurisdiction within the limits of Greater Bombay which would include E Ward also. Hence it was submitted that they have concurrent jurisdiction and in view of the concurrent jurisdiction enjoyed by these officers, it is not necessary to pass any order of transfer under section 70 of the Bombay Sales Tax Act, 1959. It is open to either of these officers to exercise jurisdiction either in assessment proceedings or in reassessment proceedings. After this point was argued for some time, Mr. Jetly stated that he did not wish to press this point and we need not give our findings on this point. In view of this statement, we are not dealing with this ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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