Cooked food turnover assessment fails where restaurant is run by separate lessees and already taxed independently.

A liquor licensee could not be assessed on estimated cooked food turnover at 15% of IMFL turnover where the restaurant in the bar hotel was leased to separate registered dealers whose turnover had already been assessed. The Kerala HC noted that the licence form and Foreign Liquor Rules required food to be available and served in the licensed premises, but did not require the same person to run both the liquor business and the restaurant. In the absence of any statutory mandate that the licensee personally conduct the restaurant, the estimate was unsustainable. The earlier decision on the same issue also supported this view. The estimate was set aside, while the remaining demand under the assessment orders continued.

---

---

Issues: Whether the assessing officer was justified in estimating the cooked food turnover at 15% of the IMFL turnover, when the restaurant in the bar hotel was leased out to separate registered dealers and their turnover was already assessed in their hands.

Analysis: The assessment could not rest on any statutory requirement that the IMFL licensee himself must run the restaurant or supply the cooked food. The licence form and the Foreign Liquor Rules only contemplated the availability and service of food in the licensed premises, and did not mandate that the same person must conduct both the liquor business and the restaurant. In the absence of a provision requiring the licensee to supply cooked food personally, and in view of the factual finding that the restaurant was conducted by separate registered persons whose turnover had already been assessed, estimating the assessee's cooked food turnover on the basis of IMFL turnover was unsustainable. The earlier decision on the same issue also supported the assessee's position.

Conclusion: The estimate of cooked food turnover at 15% of the IMFL turnover was set aside. The remaining demand under the assessment orders continued to operate against the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the restaurant in licensed premises is run by separate lessees who are independently assessed, the liquor licensee cannot be assessed again on an ed cooked food turnover in the absence of a statutory mandate requiring the licensee himself to conduct the restaurant business.

---