Remand procedure in tax appeals: Tribunal cannot decide merits or estimate turnover without basis when appellate remand is under challenge.

The Tribunal should not have decided the assessment on merits after interfering with a remand order, because the first appellate authority had not adjudicated all issues. It also had no proper basis to estimate turnover or grant exemption on an issue not previously decided. The correct course, if the remand was considered unjustified, was to return the matter to the first appellate authority for fresh decision on all issues after considering the material and, if necessary, making further enquiry.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in deciding the appeal on merits and estimating turnover when the first appellate authority had remanded the matter, and whether the case ought to be remanded to the first appellate authority for fresh decision on all issues.

Analysis: The revision challenged the Tribunal's interference with a remand order passed by the first appellate authority. The Tribunal, instead of confining itself to the propriety of that remand, proceeded to decide the assessment on merits, reduced the turnover without indicating any basis, and also granted exemption on an issue which had not been adjudicated by the first appellate authority. The proper course, if the remand was found unjustified, was to send the matter back to the first appellate authority for decision on merits after considering the material and, if necessary, obtaining further enquiry.

Conclusion: The Tribunal was not justified in deciding the merits itself or in estimating the turnover without basis. The matter was required to be remanded to the first appellate authority for fresh adjudication of all issues.

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