TMI Blog1960 (9) TMI 122X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t Sales Tax Act) empowered to make best judgment assessment for the whole turnover estimated for the period of previous assessment or he can only make additional assessment of items proved to have escaped assessment previously. (2) Whether assessment of the assessing authority under Section 8(4) (a) is according to law in the circumstances of the case. (3) Whether it was incumbent on the assessing authority to have brought to the notice of the opposite party specific items which had escaped assessment and to have offered him an opportunity to rebut the evidence in regard to such specified items. The material facts are that the assessee-firm, Messrs Kunte Brothers of Gwalior, is a dealer in scientific instruments, chemicals, etc. Du ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ding that to which the tax or the licence fee, registration fee or the exemption fee relates, assess the tax payable on the turnover which has escaped assessment or levy the correct amount of licence fee, registration fee or exemption fee, after issuing a notice to the dealer and after making such inquiry as he considers necessary. It will be seen that under this provision if the assessing authority finds that any part of the turnover of the dealer has escaped assessment then the authority after issuing a notice to the dealer and making such inquiry as may be found necessary can assess the tax payable on the turnover which has escaped assessment . The words turnover which has escaped assessment clearly show that when an additional ass ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 0 that the escaped turnover shall be determined after issuing a notice to the dealer and after making necessary inquiry contemplates that a notice in conformity with Section 8 should be given and that the inquiry should be held in accordance with Sub-sections (2) and (3) of Section 8. If, therefore, when a notice is issued to the assessee under Section 8 and he is also called upon to produce his account books and other relevant records for scrutiny, and if the assessee fails to appear in response to this notice and fails to produce the material required of him, the assessing authority has jurisdiction to determine the escaped turnover to the best of his judgment. Under Section 10 the burden of proving that any turnover has escaped assessmen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y an isolated transaction 'but showed the kind of thing which was going on, and they were, in my view, entitled to come to the conclusion to which they did come from this incident, though one only, that there must have been other similar incidents and, therefore, that the accounts of the company could not be relied upon to show the whole of the trading profit of the company. These observations show that an estimate of escaped turnover or income can be made if the assessee fails to produce his account books or if the account books are found to be unreliable by the taxing authority. The best judgment assessment, therefore, made in the present case is justified under Section 8(4) (a) of the Act. The last question is whether in procee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... see accordingly. In such a case, the question of the assessee being given an opportunity of leading rebuttal evidence cannot arise. Our answers to the questions referred to for decision are as follows : (1) Under Section 10 of the Act the assessing authority has no jurisdiction to reopen the whole assessment ; it can only assess the tax payable on the turnover which has escaped assessment. (2) The best judgment assessment made in the present case is according to law. (3) It is not necessary for the assessing authority to prove affirmatively each and every specific item of the escaped turnover determined according to its best judgment, and as the assessee here did not appear and produce his account books the question of the asses ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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