Best judgment assessment requires material linked to the specific return, not defects found in a later period.

Section 7-A of the Madras Entertainments Tax Act permits best judgment assessment only on material relating to the particular weekly return sought to be assessed, because each weekly return is a separate unit under the Act and rules. Defects noticed in a later inspection cannot, by themselves, justify reopening and reassessing earlier weekly returns unless there is independent material showing those earlier returns were incorrect or incomplete. As no defect had been found in the earlier inspections and no supporting material was shown for the past periods, the assessment for those earlier periods was held without jurisdiction and liable to be quashed.

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Issues: Whether the assessing authority had jurisdiction under Section 7-A of the Madras Entertainments Tax Act to make a best judgment assessment in respect of earlier weekly returns on the basis of defects noticed in a later inspection.

Analysis: Section 7-A operates in relation to the return contemplated by the Act and the rules, and in the case of the relevant permit each weekly return is a distinct unit. The power to make a best judgment assessment arises only when material exists in relation to the particular return sought to be assessed showing that it is incorrect or incomplete. Defects found on one occasion cannot, by themselves, justify reopening and reassessing past weekly returns in the absence of material relating to those returns. On the facts, earlier inspections had disclosed no defect, and no material was shown to support the impugned assessment for the earlier periods.

Conclusion: The best judgment assessment for the earlier periods was without jurisdiction and was liable to be quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: A best judgment assessment under Section 7-A can be made only on material relating to the particular return in question, and not on the basis of defects noticed in a different period.

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