Appreciation of seized evidence in tax reference proceedings does not raise a question of law absent perversity or no evidence.

In reference jurisdiction under Section 69 of the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969, a challenge to the Tribunal's use of seized account books and connected records, including third-party material, for determining suppressed turnover and inter-State sales was treated as a matter of evidence appreciation. The High Court stated that such factual inferences do not raise a question of law unless perversity, absence of evidence, or a comparable legal infirmity is shown. As no such defect was demonstrated, the referred questions were not required to be answered, and the Tribunal's factual findings remained undisturbed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the referred questions regarding classification of transactions and the use of seized material raised any question of law requiring an answer under the reference jurisdiction.

Analysis: The reference arose under Section 69 of the Gujarat Sales Tax Act, 1969. The dispute turned on the Tribunal's appreciation of seized account books and connected records, including material belonging to a third party, for determining suppressed turnover and inter-State sales. The High Court held that reliance on such material, and the inference drawn from it, lay in the realm of appreciation of evidence. Since the challenge did not disclose perversity, absence of evidence, or any other legal infirmity, the referred questions were held to be factual in nature rather than legal questions.

Conclusion: The referred questions were not questions of law and were not required to be answered.

Final Conclusion: The reference was answered without adjudicating the merits of the proposed questions, leaving the Tribunal's factual findings undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: In reference jurisdiction, a challenge to the appreciation of seized evidence and the factual inferences drawn from it does not give rise to a question of law unless perversity, absence of evidence, or a comparable legal infirmity is shown.

---