Additional evidence before Tribunal requires Rule 61 permission before declaration forms can be considered

Rule 61 of the Orissa Sales Tax Rules, 1947 bars fresh documentary evidence before the Tribunal unless the prescribed conditions are met and permission is sought. Declaration forms stated in the second appeal memo cannot be treated as additional evidence without a Rule 61 application. Where the Tribunal ignores such forms and proceeds without considering their admissibility, the order may be set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration after compliance with the procedural requirement. The assessee may then seek leave to file the application, and the Tribunal must decide the issue afresh in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether declaration forms produced before the second appellate authority could be considered as additional evidence without a petition under Rule 61 of the Orissa Sales Tax Rules, 1947, and whether the Tribunal's order required interference.

Analysis: Rule 61 bars fresh documentary evidence before the Tribunal unless one of the specified conditions is satisfied and permission is sought. The assessee had filed the declaration forms only by way of assertion in the second appeal memo and had not filed a petition under Rule 61. The Tribunal, however, did not deal with the declaration forms and proceeded as if they had never been produced. In these circumstances, and in the interest of justice, the order of the Tribunal could not stand and the matter had to be sent back for fresh consideration after compliance with the procedural requirement.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's order was quashed and the matter was remitted to the Tribunal. The appellant was permitted to file an application under Rule 61, and the Tribunal was directed to consider the matter afresh in accordance with law.

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