Best judgment assessment permits use of mining records to estimate suppressed turnover; concurrent factual findings stand absent perversity.

Reliable contemporaneous records maintained by the Mining Department may be used to estimate suppressed turnover in a best judgment assessment under the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003, where discrepancies exist between sales invoices and permits. The assessment of suppressed turnover was treated as a question of fact, and concurrent findings based on such material were not interfered with in revision absent perversity. A claim for a higher deduction than 15% was rejected because the record showed only varying differences and no fixed standard for a larger deduction was established.

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Issues: Whether the estimate of suppressed turnover based on Mining Department records under Rules 42 and 43 of the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1994, and the deduction of 15% upheld by the authorities, called for interference under Section 65 of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003.

Analysis: The estimation of suppressed turnover was founded on discrepancies between the quantities shown in the sales invoices and the permits maintained by the Mining Department. Such material was treated as reliable evidence for the purpose of best judgment assessment under the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003. The Court found that the assessment of suppressed turnover was a question of fact and that no perversity was shown in the concurrent findings of the authorities. The contention that a higher deduction than 15% had to be allowed was rejected because the materials only showed varying differences and did not establish any fixed standard of deduction.

Conclusion: The estimate of suppressed turnover and the deduction of 15% were upheld, and no interference was warranted under Section 65 of the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003.

Ratio Decidendi: In a best judgment assessment, reliable contemporaneous records maintained by another statutory authority may be used to estimate suppressed turnover, and concurrent factual findings will not be interfered with in revision absent perversity or a question of law.

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