High electricity consumption can justify reopening, but rejection of books needs concrete evidence of unreliability.

High electricity consumption may constitute relevant material to initiate escaped-assessment proceedings under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, because it can suggest that turnover has escaped assessment even though it may not by itself prove the escaped turnover finally. By contrast, regularly maintained and previously accepted books of account cannot be rejected merely on that inference; rejection requires positive and concrete material showing the accounts themselves are unreliable. The article therefore states that reopening may be justified on electricity-consumption information, but best judgment assessment cannot rest on that ground alone.

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Issues: (i) Whether there was material for initiating proceedings under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act on the basis of high electricity consumption; (ii) Whether there was material for rejecting the assessee's books of account.

Issue (i): Whether there was material for initiating proceedings under section 21 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act on the basis of high electricity consumption.

Analysis: High consumption of electricity may constitute a circumstance suggesting that some turnover has escaped assessment and may justify reopening proceedings. The existence of such information is enough to examine escapement, even if it is not by itself sufficient to establish the escaped turnover finally.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the affirmative.

Issue (ii): Whether there was material for rejecting the assessee's books of account.

Analysis: Rejection of regularly maintained and previously accepted books requires positive and concrete material relating to the accounts themselves. Mere reliance on the electricity-consumption inference is not enough to discard the books and make a best judgment assessment.

Conclusion: The question was answered in the negative.

Final Conclusion: Reopening under section 21 was upheld, but the rejection of the assessee's books of account was not justified.

Ratio Decidendi: High electricity consumption may justify initiation of escaped-assessment proceedings, but books of account cannot be rejected unless there is positive and concrete material showing them to be unreliable.

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