Best judgment assessment and rejection of accounts raised no referable question of law under sales tax reference procedure.

A reference under the M.P. General Sales Tax Act was not maintainable where the proposed questions concerned only the correctness of best judgment assessment, rejection of accounts, and the rate applied on the facts. Those matters turned on appreciation of evidence and factual inferences, and the assessee had failed to maintain proper accounts or satisfactorily explain the defects. The High Court held that the earlier decision cited by the Additional Commissioner was used only as a factual guide, not as the basis for any independent legal issue. No referable question of law arose, so refusal to call for a reference was upheld.

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Issues: Whether the application for calling for a reference under section 44(2) of the M.P. General Sales Tax Act, 1958 was maintainable when the questions framed turned only on factual findings relating to best judgment assessment and rejection of accounts.

Analysis: The questions proposed by the assessee concerned the correctness of the assessing authority's estimate, the rejection of account books, and the application of the rate adopted on the facts of the case. Such matters depended on the appreciation of evidence and factual inferences recorded by the authorities below. The Court found that the assessee had not maintained proper accounts, had failed to satisfactorily explain the position, and that the Additional Commissioner had applied the earlier decision on the same assessment methodology only as a factual guide. No independent question of law arose from the record.

Conclusion: The application failed because no referable question of law was made out, and the refusal to call for a reference was upheld.

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