Books of account rejection was unsustainable; turnover had to be determined on accepted accounts after remand.

Where the grounds for rejecting an assessee's books of account are found insufficient, the assessment built on that rejection cannot stand. The Tribunal was required to proceed on the accepted books and determine turnover accordingly, rather than dismiss the appeal despite rejecting the basis of the assessment. The HC therefore found the dismissal unsustainable, set aside the Tribunal's order, and remanded the matter for fresh determination in accordance with the correct books of account.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in dismissing the assessee's appeal after holding that the grounds on which the books of account were rejected were insufficient, and whether the matter required remand for determination of turnover on the basis of the accepted books.

Analysis: The finding that the reasons for rejecting the books of account were not sufficient meant that the foundation of the assessment could not stand. Once that conclusion was reached, the Tribunal ought to have granted relief consistent with acceptance of the account books and consequential determination of turnover on that basis.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the appeal was held unsustainable, and the matter was remanded with a direction to accept the books of account as correct and determine the turnover accordingly.

Final Conclusion: The revision was allowed and the Tribunal's order was set aside, with the matter sent back for fresh determination in accordance with the accepted books of account.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the grounds for rejection of an assessee's books of account are found insufficient, the resulting assessment cannot be sustained on that basis and turnover must be determined on the accepted accounts.

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