STATE OF KERALA Vs. SRI. THOMAS GEORGE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State has filed the above revision from Annexure-D order of the Tribunal. In the nature of the orders to be passed, we state the brief facts, which are as under.

(2.) The assessee is a dealer in home appliances and an inspection was carried out by the Intelligence Officer on 17.06.2011 in the premises of the dealer. The dealer had not disclosed any closing stock for the previous year, ie. 2009-2010. The dealer had also not filed Form 53 disclosing the stock position in the year 2010-2011. Hence the Intelligence Officer calculated the closing stock based on the closing stock declared from the year 2009-2010 and the transactions in the year 2010- 2011. A crime filed was registered and the petitioner compounded the offence. The Assessing Officer, on the basis of the crime file, issued a notice for assessment under best judgment alleging a pattern of suppression in the subject year, ie. 2011-2012. There was also an addition made at three times of the suppression found. The First Appellate Authority reduced it to two times the suppression. The Tribunal deleted the suppression, against which the revision is filed.

(3.) Before the Tribunal, the assessee/dealer contended that they had filed an application for revision of returns, thus adding on to the turnover, the suppression detected by the Intelligence Officer; under Section 22(10) of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 [for brevity, the KVAT Act]. The same was also permitted by the Deputy Commissioner. Still the Assessing Officer declined acceptance of such revised return and proceeded with the assessment. The Tribunal found that Section 22(10) of the KVAT Act provides for a revised return in so far as a penalty proceedings concluded against the assessee/dealer. On that basis when permission also had been granted by the Deputy Commissioner, it was found that the assessment on best judgment could not have been proceeded with. The assessment order was set aside by the Tribunal in toto.