Best judgment assessment requires honest estimation on material, and a pattern of suppression can justify a wider inference.

Best judgment assessment under the Kerala sales tax law must be an honest estimate founded on material; it cannot rest on pure guesswork or mere suspicion. Where the record shows a pattern of suppression, including repeated irregularities, suppression at more than one business place, and unexplained slips indicating transactions, the authority may reasonably infer suppression beyond the exact instances detected, provided the inference has a rational nexus with the facts. On that footing, the addition based on continuous suppression was upheld because the estimate was treated as reasonable and supported by material rather than conjecture.

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Issues: Whether the best judgment assessment made by the sales tax authorities could be sustained on the basis of the rejected books, detected slips and surrounding material, and whether the inference of continuous suppression for the whole season from a five-day detected suppression was justified.

Analysis: The statutory power to assess to the best of judgment under Section 12(2)(b) of the General Sales Tax Act, 1125 M.E., and the corresponding provision in Section 17(3) of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, does not authorise a pure guess or a capricious estimate. The estimate must be an honest one, founded on material, and there must be something more than bare suspicion. Where the materials disclose a pattern of suppression, the authority may draw a reasonable inference extending beyond the exact instances detected, provided the inference has a rational nexus with the available facts and circumstances.

Conclusion: The inference of continuous suppression was supported by material, including repeated irregularities, suppressions at both business places, and unexplained slips showing large-scale transactions. The best judgment addition was therefore upheld.

Final Conclusion: The revision failed and the assessment stood sustained because the estimate was found to rest on an honest and reasonable appraisal of the material, not on conjecture alone.

Ratio Decidendi: In a best judgment assessment, an authority may rely on material indicating a pattern of suppression and may make a reasonable estimate beyond the precise detected instances, but the assessment must have a rational nexus with the available material and cannot rest on mere suspicion or pure guesswork.

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