Speaking appellate orders and independent consideration of assessee appeals are required where turnover issues were not actually decided.

An appellate tribunal, as the fact-finding authority, must independently consider each assessee appeal and dispose of it by a reasoned speaking order on the issues actually raised. Where the record shows that the tribunal confined itself to the department's appeals and did not genuinely address the assessee's turnover challenge, the appellate order is vulnerable to interference. The matter is then to be reconsidered under section 11(8) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, with the rehearing limited so that the coal purchase controversy remains outside its scope.

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Issues: Whether the Sales Tax Tribunal was bound to decide the assessee's appeals by a reasoned order dealing with the controversy regarding turnover and whether its failure to do so warranted interference and remand.

Analysis: The Tribunal, as the appellate fact-finding authority, was required to address the assessee's appeals independently and dispose of them by a speaking order after applying its mind to the issues raised. The order showed that attention was confined to the department's appeals and that the assessee's appeals, particularly on the question of turnover, were not actually considered. In those circumstances, the appellate order could not stand. The matter had to be reconsidered in the light of section 11(8) of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, with the coal purchase controversy treated as outside the scope of the rehearing.

Conclusion: The revisions were allowed, the Tribunal's order was set aside, and the assessee's appeals were remanded for fresh disposal on merits in accordance with law.

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