Appellate power to enhance tax was absent under the Assam Finance (Sales Tax) Act, limiting the Board to remand or other lawful orders.

Under section 20A of the Assam Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1956, the Board of Revenue's appellate power was confined to orders passed after hearing the dealer, and the statute did not confer a power to enhance the assessed tax. The appellate scheme was contrasted with the Income-tax Act, 1961 and with section 19(4) of the same Act, which allowed a first appellate authority to enhance an assessment. The Board could remand the matter for lawful disposal where appropriate, but it could not itself increase the dealer's tax burden. The enhancement order was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether, in an appeal under section 20A of the Assam Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1956, the Board of Revenue had jurisdiction to enhance the tax assessed by the subordinate authority.

Analysis: The appellate scheme of the Assam Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1956 was compared with the corresponding provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The right of appeal to the Board under section 20A was conferred only on the dealer, while no corresponding appellate or cross-objection right was available to the taxing department. Section 20A empowered the Board to pass such orders as it thought fit after hearing the dealer, but the Act did not confer on the Board a power to enhance the assessment in the manner available to the first appellate authority under section 19(4). The Board could, where appropriate, remand the matter for lawful disposal, but it could not itself make an order that increased the dealer's tax burden.

Conclusion: The Board of Revenue had no jurisdiction to pass an order enhancing the tax assessed, and the impugned order was unsustainable.

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