JUDGMENT :

S. Muralidhar, J.

1. In both these writ petitions, a common question of law arises for consideration under the Orissa Entry Tax Act, 1999 (OET Act). The question is whether a formal communication of the acceptance of the return filed by way of self-assessment under Section 9 (2) of the OET Act is a pre-requisite to the reopening of an assessment under Section 10 (1) of the OET Act?

Background

2. At the outset, it must be noticed that in the context of the Orissa Value Added Tax Act, 2004 (OVAT Act), a similar question was considered by this Court in its decision in M/s. Keshab Automobiles v. State of Odisha (decision dated 1st December 2021 in STREV No.64 of 2016) which holds, in the context of Section 43 read with Section 39 (2) of the OVAT Act, prior to their amendment with effect from 1st October 2015, that unless there is a communication of the acceptance of the return filed in the first instance by way of self assessment, there cannot be a reopening of the assessment. The aforementioned decision of this Court in M/s. Keshab Automobiles (supra) has been affirmed by the Supreme Court of India in its order dated 13th July 2022 in SLP (Civil) No.9912 of 2022 (Deputy Commiss