- (1.) THIS special appeal u/s 14 (4a) of the Rajasthan Sales Tax Act, 1954 (hereinafter called the Act) is directed against the single Member's order of this Board dated 7-1-1971 passed in revision u/s 14 (2) of the Act.
(2.) THE circumstances leading to the instant special appeal are that the respondent had filed a memorandum of objection before the assessing authority challenging his jurisdiction over the respondent u/s 12 B of the Act. THE assessing authority rejected the respondent's application u/s 12 B on the ground that the said application had been filed after the expiry of 30 days from the date of receipt by the respondent of a notice issued under the Act by the assessing authority. This order of the assessing authority was challenged by the present respondent in revision, which we accepted on the ground that the assessing authority did not have the power to rejected the application u/s 12b as it was obligatory for him to refer any question or objection raised regarding his jurisdiction to the Commissioner and the assessing authority was further directed to refer the matter to the Commissioner for adjudication according to law. THE assessing authority feeling aggrieved by the order passed in revision has come before us in special appeal. We have heard the parties and have also perused the record. No new arguments have been advanced before us except those advanced before the learned Member sitting singly in revision and the only question we are called upon to determine here is whether it was obligatory for the assessing authority to refer the objection of the present respondent to the Commissioner once the memorandum sitting forth the objection was presented before him irrespective of such memorandum having been filed outside the stipulated period of 30 days from the date of service of the notice issued by the assessing authority. We have referred to the provisions of S. 12 (B) which are reproduced here - "12 (b) Disputes regarding jurisdiction - No person shall be entitled to call in question the jurisdiction of any assessing authority or appellate authority after the expiry of thirty days from the date of receipt by such person of any summons or notice under the Act issued by such authority or, in case the summons or notice was issued prior to the commencement of the Rajasthan Sales Tax (Amendment and Validation) Ordinance, 1967 (Rajasthan Ordinance 2 of 1916) after the expiry of thirty days from the commencement of the said Ordinance. If within the period aforesaid, an objection is raised as to the jurisdiction of any such authority by submitting a memorandum to him, the authority concerned shall refer the question to the Commissioner, who shall, after giving the person raising the objection a reasonable opportunity of being heard, make an order determining the question. The order made by the Commissioner shall be final. " A plain reading of Sec. 15 B makes it mandatory for the person served upon with a notice or summons under the Act by the assessing authority and who has an objection as to the jurisdiction of the assessing authority to issue such summons or notice, or call in question such jurisdiction within 30 days from the date of receipt of such notice of summons, for enabling the assessing authority to refer to the Commissioner for necessary adjudication. The words and expressions used in Section 12 B "no person shall be entited to call in question" and "after the expiry of thirty days from the date of receipt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of any summons or notice," amply make it clear that if the memorandum of objection is filed after the expiry of thirty days from the date of service of the summons or notice, the persons making the objection shall not be entitled to call in question the jurisdiction of the assessing authority. Further the use of the words and expression "if within the period aforesaid an objection is raised. . . . . . . . . . . . the assessing authority shall refer the question to the Commissioner clearly does not entitle the assessing authority to refer the matter to the Commissioner if the memorandum of objection is not presented before him within the prescribed period of thirty days. It is not disputed here that the memorandum of objection was presented before the assessing authority after the expiry of stipulated period of thirty days and, therefore, the law itself did not empower the assessing authority to entertain the memorandum of objection u/s 12 B and refer it to the Commissioner when it was filed beyond the prescribed limit of thirty days. The learned single Member had, therefore, erroneously construed that it was obligatory for the assessing authority to refer the matter to the Commissioner, the memorandum of objection had been presented before him irrespective of the fact whether it had been preferred within the prescribed time or not. The assessing authority was fully justified and within his power in refusing to refer the memorandum of objection filed by the present respondent to the Commissioner. The instant special appeal is therefore, accepted, setting aside the order of the learned single Member dated 7-1-1971 passed in revision and the order at the assessing authority dated 14-8-1971 passed u/s 12 (B) is upheld.;