Appellate power to remand after verification report upheld where ex parte trade tax assessments lacked assessee cooperation.

Section 9(3)(a)(iv) permits the first appellate authority to call for inquiry and obtain a verification report, and that power does not exclude the separate power under section 9(3)(a)(iii) to set aside an assessment and remand the matter for fresh assessment. Where the assessee had not appeared before the assessing authority or produced books of account and purchase details, and the ex parte assessments were challenged for alleged lack of service and opportunity, a remand directing fresh inquiry was within jurisdiction. A later letter from the Assistant Commissioner was treated only as a reminder that the assessee should be given an opportunity to explain the material, not as adverse reliance on undisclosed evidence.

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Issues: Whether the first appellate authority could set aside ex parte assessment orders and remand the matter for fresh assessment after calling for a verification report under section 9(3)(a)(iv) of the U.P. Trade Tax Act, 1948, and whether the Tribunal erred in sustaining the remand by referring to a subsequent letter from the Assistant Commissioner without giving separate adverse reliance on it.

Analysis: Section 9(3)(a)(iv) empowers the appellate authority to call for inquiry and obtain a report, but that power does not take away the authority's further power under section 9(3)(a)(iii) to set aside the assessment order and direct a fresh order after such inquiry as may be specified. The assessee had not appeared before the assessing authority, had not produced the books of account or purchase details for verification, and the ex parte assessments were challenged mainly on the ground of lack of service and denial of proper opportunity. In that situation, the remand order was consistent with the assessee's own grievance and did not suffer from jurisdictional error. The Tribunal's reference to the Assistant Commissioner's letter was only to note that the assessee should be given an opportunity to explain the material and was not an adverse finding based on undisclosed evidence.

Conclusion: The appellate authority had the power to remand the case, and the Tribunal rightly upheld the remand. The challenge to the remand order failed.

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