Reason to believe for escaped turnover notice upheld where pre-issue facts showed a rational nexus with suppression.

An assessing authority may issue notice under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act only if it has reason to believe that turnover has escaped assessment. The court treated this as a bona fide subjective belief founded on existing facts, and accepted the officer's affidavit in the absence of material disproving it. Information from an income-tax investigation, including seizure of account books and alleged suppression of earlier sales, had a rational nexus with possible escaped turnover in the relevant year. The later request for further information did not invalidate the notice, because legality depended on the material available before issuance. The notice was therefore upheld.

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Issues: Whether the Sales Tax Officer had reason to believe that part of the dealer's turnover had escaped assessment so as to justify issuance of notice under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act.

Analysis: The provision required the assessing authority to have reason to believe that turnover had escaped assessment before issuing notice. The expression imported a subjective belief based on facts, and the existence of such belief was accepted on the officer's affidavit in the absence of any material disproving it. The facts before the officer, including information from the income-tax investigation regarding seizure of account books and alleged suppression of sales in earlier years, had a logical nexus with the inference that turnover may have escaped assessment in the relevant year. The fact that the officer later sought further information did not invalidate the notice, because the legality of the notice depended on the material existing before issuance and the officer was entitled to gather more facts thereafter.

Conclusion: The notice under section 21 was validly issued on the basis of reason to believe, and the challenge to it failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessing authority has some factual material giving a rational nexus with escaped turnover and forms a bona fide belief on that basis, the court will not substitute an objective standard or invalidate the notice merely because the material later requires further verification.

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