The main legal point established in the judgment is that assessment proceedings can continue until a final order is made, even if the final order is made after the expiry of the period of limitation.

GOPALAN NAMBIYAR, C.J.

The Sales Tax Officer, Perumbavoor, the District Collector, Ernakulam, and the Tahasildar, Kunnathunad Taluk, are the appellants in this appeal. They challenge the decision of a learned Judge of this Court who held that the proceedings taken for reassessment under section 19 of the Sales Tax Act are barred by limitation as provided in the section. The learned Judge upheld the objection to that effect and allowed the writ petition of the assessee.

2. The assessment years with which we are concerned are 1963-64 to 1966-67. The orders of reassessment for these years (exhibits P3 to P6) are all dated 31st January, 1975. The orders of assessment of the Sales Tax Officer for these years are dated 6th January, 1968, and 10th January, 1968. There was an appeal against these orders of assessment to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, who, by exhibit P1 order dated 4th August, 1969, set aside the assessment orders and directed the Sales Tax Officer to make a fresh assessment in accordance with law and with the appellate order passed by that authority. In pursuance of this direction, exhibit P2 notice dated 4th July, 1974, was issued, which results in the impugned orders exhibits P3 to P6.

3. Section 19 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1963, in so far as it is material, reads :

"19. Assessment of escaped turnover. - (1) Where for any reason the whole or any part of the turnover of business of a dealer has escaped assessment to tax in any year or has been under-assessed or has been assessed at a rate lower than the rate at which it is assessable, or any deduction has been wrongly made therefrom the assessing authority may, at any time within four years from the expiry of the year to which the tax relates, proceed to determine to the best of its judgment the turnover which has escaped assessment to tax or has been under-assessed or has been assessed at a rate lower than the rate at which it is assessable or the deduction that has been wrongly made and assess the tax payable on such turnover after issuing a notice on the dealer and after making such enquiry as it may consider necessary :

Provided that before making an assessment under this sub-section the dealer shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard ..."

It will be noticed that, on the language of the section itself, the bar of four years operates only to "proceed to determine the turnover" and not to the actual determination thereof. That is to say, once there has been a commencement of the proceedings for determining the turnover, a continuation thereof would not be hit by the bar of limitation prescribed by the section. We are also of the view that, once the assessment proceedings have been carried up in appeal to the appellate authority and remanded back to the Sales Tax Officer for fresh assessment, the resultant proceedings are only a continuation of those originally started, and not a recommencement of fresh proceedings. Indeed, once the assessment proceedings are started, they run their course to their final termination by way of appeal, revision or otherwise.

4. This position has been now well-settled by the judicial decisions. In Sales Tax Officer v. Sudarsanam Iyengar & Sons ([1970] 25 S.T.C. 252 at 255 (S.C.); 1969 K.L.T. 783 at 785), the Supreme Court was dealing with rule 33 of the Rules framed under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1125 M.E. After quoting the rule, the Supreme Court observed :

"Now in view of the previous decisions the principle is firmly established that the assessment proceedings under the Sales Tax Act must be held to be pending from the time the procedings are initiated until they are terminated by a final order of assessment. The distinguishing feature on which emphasis has been laid by the counsel for the respondent is that the language employed in rule 33 is such as to lead to only one conclusion that the final determination of the turnover which has escaped assessment and the assessment of the tax have