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2009 (7) TMI 1194 - MADRAS HIGH COURTEnhancement of turnover - Whether the Tribunal is legally correct in having affirmed the order of the first appellate authority while the assessee had claimed exemption from tax on the purchase of silver leg chains for ₹ 13,41,528 and sales of silver leg chains for ₹ 12,25,023 and, therefore, the burden of proof that those transactions were not liable to tax shall be upon the dealers as enjoined under section 10 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959? Whether the order of the Tribunal is not having restored the penalty levied under section 12(3)(b) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959, is legally sustainable? Held that:- In the present case, as rightly pointed out by the Tribunal, the assessing officer cannot simply taking into consideration the report of the Enforcement Wing has not applied its mind, but simply has been carried away by the report of the Enforcement Wing and has come to the conclusion. As stated earlier, the assessing officer should have decided the matter on the merits, independently unbiased and uninfluenced by any other subsequent factors and also should not have stated that it is not a court of law. Therefore, the authority, i.e., assessing officer has basically committed a mistake in stating that it cannot conduct a court of law. Rightly this has been set aside both by the first appellate authority and the second appellate authority, who are also actual fact-finding authorities, rightly concluded that such an attitude of the assessing authority in totally rejecting the contentions of the assessee without applying the basic principles of law, is not legal and valid in law. Hence, the reasoning of the appellate authority is valid in law and we do not find any reason to interfere with the said findings. The question of law is answered against the Revenue.
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