JAYA JEWELLERS Vs. THE STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A dealer registered under the provisions of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 ('KGST Act' for short) has filed this Revision Petition under , inter alia, questioning the correctness or otherwise of the orders of assessment passed by the assessing authority for the assessment year 1997-98 and the subsequent orders passed by the First Appellate Authority as well as by the Tribunal.

(2.) The assessee has framed the following two questions of law for our consideration and decision. They are: (1) In the absence of sufficient materials, whether the authorities are justified in resorting to running stock method of assessment, and (2) In the absence of sufficient materials, whether the authorities are justified in estimating the turnover at three times the average running stock.

(3.) The assessee is a dealer registered under the provisions of the KGST Act. He is doing business in gold jewellery. His shop was inspected by the Sales Tax Officers attached to the Intelligence Wing on 13.10.1997. They have found suppression of stock as well as non-maintenance of books of accounts as required under the Rules framed under the Act. Having noticed the discrepancy, they had seized certain books of accounts, diaries, loose slips found at the time of inspection in the business premises of the petitioner.