Appellate remand for fresh assessment upheld where seized material was not properly scrutinised and investigated.
Where an assessment is made without proper scrutiny or investigation of relevant seized material, the appellate authority may exercise its judicial discretion to set aside the assessment and remit the matter for fresh consideration. The appellate power under the U.P. Sales Tax Act is wide enough to confirm, reduce, enhance, annul, or in a fit case direct a fresh inquiry, and it is not necessary for the appellate authority itself to conduct the entire investigation when the material has not been properly examined. The remand was therefore upheld.
Issues: Whether the appellate authority was justified in setting aside the assessment and remanding the matter for fresh assessment on the ground that the assessing officer had not properly scrutinised the material seized during survey.
Analysis: Section 9 of the U.P. Sales Tax Act confers wide appellate powers, including the power to confirm, reduce, enhance or annul an assessment, and in a fit case to set aside the assessment and direct a fresh inquiry. That discretion, though wide, is judicial and must be exercised on legal principles. Where the assessing authority has failed to examine relevant seized material, has not processed the entries found in survey, and has not properly investigated the facts necessary for a fair assessment, the appellate authority may rightly conclude that a fresh assessment is needed. In such circumstances, it is not mandatory that the appellate authority itself conduct the entire investigation.
Conclusion: The remand order was valid and the Tribunal was right in sustaining it.
Final Conclusion: The revision failed because the assessment was lawfully set aside for fresh consideration, and no error of law was shown in the appellate or tribunal orders.
Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessment has been made without proper scrutiny or investigation of relevant material, the appellate authority may in the exercise of judicial discretion set aside the assessment and remit the matter for fresh assessment.
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