A. P. ABDUL GAFOOR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is a dealer in lime shell. These revisions relate to the assessments under the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 respectively for the years 1998-99 and 1999-2000.

(2.) The petitioner did not submit returns for both the assessment years. The inquiry conducted by the assessing authority revealed that during the assessment years in issue, the petitioner had effected inter-State sales of lime shell. Despite notices issued, the petitioner disclosed only local sales of lime shell and suppressed inter-State sales and the value disclosed in the bills was also found to be very low. As many as nine lorry loads of inter-State sales were detected during the period of two months, namely, during January 1999 and February 1999 during the assessment year 1998-99 and the value shown in the bills was also below rupees two thousand, when the value shown for similar sales by co-operative societies was rupees eight thousand and nine thousand. It was also detected that the petitioner was maintaining two sets of bills. For reason of the above defects, the assessing authority, after issuing pre-assessment notices and considering the objections of the petitioner, assessed the petitioner to Central sales tax as proposed, estimating the inter-State sales at 240 lorry loads during 1998-99 and fixing the sale price at rupees eight thousand per load. The assessment so made was challenged before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, but was futile. The matter was further challenged before the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal allowed the appeal in part and directed the assessing authority to modify the assessment adopting the value at rupees five thousand per lorry load.

(3.) The contentions advanced before us by the learned Counsel for the petitioner in relation to the assessment year 1998-99 are that the estimation of value at rupees five thousand per load is without any valid material and that the estimated sale of 240 lorry loads, based on the suppression detected, is improper, as the sale at the same rate will not be there, every month in an year.