Tax assessment disclosure limits: assessee gets adverse material used against him, but not every internal report.

Rule 87 of the Orissa Sales Tax Rules, 1947 does not create a general right to certified copies of every report or internal record in tax proceedings. Natural justice requires disclosure of the material actually proposed to be used against the assessee, so the assessee must know the foundation of adverse action. However, an internal Sales Tax Inspector's fraud report need not be supplied as a certified copy where it is only an inferential document and the assessing authority has otherwise disclosed the basis of the proposed assessment. The distinction between a public document and material compulsorily open to inspection for assessment purposes was emphasised.

---

---

Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to a certified copy of the Sales Tax Inspector's fraud case report used as the basis for initiation of assessment proceedings.

Analysis: Rule 87 of the Orissa Sales Tax Rules, 1947 governs grant of certified copies of orders passed by sales tax authorities and does not, by itself, confer a general right to obtain every report or internal material. In tax proceedings, the assessing authority may collect material behind the back of the assessee, but the principles of natural justice require disclosure of the material that is actually proposed to be used against the assessee. The assessee is entitled to know the foundation of the adverse action and to obtain copies of such material where necessary, but not necessarily the Inspector's report itself when the assessing officer has independently indicated the basis of the proposed action and the report serves only as an internal inferential document. The distinction between a public document under the Evidence Act, 1872 and a document that is compulsorily open to inspection for purposes of assessment was also emphasized.

Conclusion: The assessee was not entitled to a certified copy of the Inspector's report; the refusal to supply it was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: In tax assessments, the assessee must be given the adverse material proposed to be used against him, but he has no automatic right to a certified copy of an internal inspector's report where the assessing authority has disclosed the material foundation of the proposed action.

---