Reassessment based on third-party web data requires independent enquiry, not blind reliance on enforcement material or an impossible burden on the dealer.

In reassessment proceedings founded on web-based third-party data or enforcement material, the assessing authority must conduct an independent enquiry and consider the dealer's objections before sustaining an addition. The authority cannot rely only on the burden clause or require the dealer to disprove a disputed transaction on bare third-party data. The court held that the reassessment was unsustainable because no proper verification was made of the alleged purchase omission. The order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration after notice to the dealer and the other end dealers, with directions to redo the assessment in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment based on web-based third-party data and enforcement report, without an independent enquiry and without examining the objections of the dealer in the manner required by law, could be sustained.

Analysis: The assessment arose in revision under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006. The dealer disputed the alleged purchase omission and specifically denied any business transaction with the dealers named in the notice. The assessing authority, however, confirmed the proposal mainly on the basis of the enforcement report and the statutory burden clause, without first conducting an enquiry to verify the rival versions. In a reassessment founded on information gathered from the departmental website, the authority was required to carry out a proper enquiry and ascertain the truth of the transaction by considering the dealer's objections and, if necessary, by calling for verification through the officers of the other end dealers. The dealer could not be expected to prove a negative on the bare basis of the third-party data.

Conclusion: The reassessment order was unsustainable and was set aside. The matter was remanded for fresh consideration after notice to the dealer and the other end dealers, with a direction to conduct enquiry and redo the assessment in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: In reassessment proceedings based on third-party or web-based information, the assessing authority must independently verify the disputed transactions and cannot sustain the assessment merely by relying on enforcement material or by placing an impossible burden on the dealer to disprove the allegation.

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