Appellate verification of additional evidence is mandatory before relief can be granted; untested documents justify remand.

A final fact-finding appellate authority must not grant relief on documents produced for the first time in appeal without verifying them against the originals and the regular books of account. Where additional material requires cross-checking with seized records or other primary records, the proper course is verification or remand for fresh examination. On the facts stated, the Tribunal accepted photocopies and deleted the estimated turnover and penalty without such verification, so its order was unsustainable and the matter was restored for fresh assessment after giving the assessee an opportunity.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in accepting documents produced for the first time in second appeal and in deleting the estimated turnover and consequential penalty without verifying the originals and the regular accounts, instead of remanding the matter for proper scrutiny.

Analysis: The assessee had not replied to the pre-assessment notice and the assessment had been made on the basis of seized records. When the matter first reached the appellate authority, the documents newly produced by the assessee required verification with the original records and the regular books of account, and the proper course was remand. The Tribunal, however, accepted only photocopies and granted relief without calling for verification of the originals or a report from the assessing authority. As the final fact-finding body, it ought either to have tested the documents against the original records and accounts or to have remanded the matter for fresh consideration.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's order was unsustainable and was rightly set aside; the matter was restored to the Assessing Officer for fresh assessment after verification and opportunity to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: A final fact-finding authority cannot grant relief on unverified additional documents produced for the first time in appeal, and where such documents require cross-checking with originals and regular accounts, the proper course is verification or remand.

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