9911796707
TMI Blog1963 (3) TMI 40X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rial facts. The respondent is a dealer in bullion and jewellery at Rajahmundry. This firm was provisionally assessed for the year 1955-56 on a turnover of Rs. 1,22,605-8-3 by the Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Rajahmundry II. They filed a return for 1955-56 showing a gross and net turnover of Rs. 1,98,460-3-0. As the assessing authority was not satisfied that the books of account were correctly maintained and as it found that a turnover totalling Rs. 21,107-8-0 was suppressed in the course of two and a half months, estimated the turnover to the best of his judgment at Rs. 2,40,675-3-0. The Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, who was apprised of the estimate made by the Commercial Tax Officer, purporting to act in the exercise of his r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation in this revision is whether it is within the authority of the Tribunal exercising revisional jurisdiction under the General Sales Tax Act to re-open the assessment made by the Commercial Tax Officer. The answer to this depends upon the interpretation of section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, which corresponds to section 12 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, which was the provision that was in operation at the time when the assessment was made. It makes no difference for the purpose of this enquiry whether it is section 20 or section 12 that governs the present case, as section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act is in pari materia with section 12 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act. It is convenient at t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ude of these sections enable the revising authority to exercise unrestricted power in dealing with the order of the assessing officer ? We feel that the precise content of this power has to be gathered from sections 20 and 14 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, which are analogous to section 9 of, and the relevant rules made under, the Madras General Sales Tax Act. We will read here section 14 in so far as it has a bearing on this enquiry: "14. (1) If the assessing authority is satisfied that any return submitted under section 13 is correct and complete, he shall assess the amount of tax payable by the dealer on the basis thereof ; but if the return appears to him to be incorrect or incomplete he shall, after giving the dealer a r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... give the dealer a reasonable opportunity to explain the omission to disclose the information, and make such inquiry as he considers necessary. " Indisputably, it is under section 14(1) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act, which corresponds to section 9(2)(b) of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, that the Commercial Tax Officer estimated the turnover to the best of his judgment. What the Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes did in this case was that, he enhanced the turnover by making a best judgment assessment. He thought that a substantial part of the turnover was omitted to be taken into account by the Commercial Tax Officer in making the estimate. Whether there is any basis for that assumption or not is a different matter and ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rnover by more than two and a half lakhs. That being so, there can be little doubt that what the revising authority did falls under sub-section (4). Sub-section (1) and sub-section (4) embody two different concepts and they are mutually exclusive. It is only in regard to matters coming under sub-section (1) that the revising authority is empowered to invoke section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act or section 12 of the Madras General Sales Tax Act, as the case may be. It does not extend to powers vested in the assessing authority by sub-section (4) of the Andhra Pradesh General Sales Tax Act or rule 17(1) of the rules framed under the Madras General Sales Tax Act, which resembles section 14(4). The duty to be discharged under s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d be completely reconcilable and the two jurisdictions-to revise assessments and to re-open-would each be assigned to the proper authority. The language of rule 17(1) is consistent with this construction. The 'escape' that serves as the foundation of the jurisdiction to reopen an assessment is that of 'turnover' and not, be it noted, an assessment. 'Turnover' escapes when it is not noticed by the officer either because it is not before him by reason of an inadvertence, omission or deliberate concealment on the part of the assessee, or because of want of care on the part of the officer the turnover though in the books has not been taken notice of. This would be the natural and normal meaning of the expression 'turnover which has escaped' in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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