Third-party seized entries need independent proof before tax liability can be fastened on an assessee.

Where the Revenue relies on entries in a booking register seized from a third party, it must establish by independent material that the entries are genuine and that they relate to the assessee. Here, the register did not mention the assessee's address, other firms used the same name, and the transport company produced no supporting bills or receipts; its representative also did not admit that the transactions belonged to the assessee. The uncorroborated entries therefore remained linked only by suspicion, and liability could not be fastened on the assessee. The assessment based on the seized register was not sustainable.

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Issues: Whether entries in a booking register seized from the premises of a third party could be used to fasten tax liability on the assessee when the assessee denied any connection with those entries and the Revenue produced no independent material to link them to the assessee.

Analysis: The booking register did not contain the address of the assessee, and the record showed that there were other firms carrying on business in the same name. The transport company did not produce bills or bilities supporting the entries, and in cross-examination its representative did not admit that the transactions belonged to the assessee. In these circumstances, the entries in the seized register remained uncorroborated. Where the Revenue relies on a document seized from a third party and the dealer disputes the connection, the burden lies on the Revenue to establish the genuineness of the entry and its linkage with the dealer. That burden was not discharged here, and the concurrent findings below were based only on surmises and conjecture.

Conclusion: The tax assessment based on the seized booking register could not be sustained, and the entries were not proved to relate to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: When the Revenue seeks to rely on entries in a document seized from a third party, it must prove by independent material that the entries are genuine and that they relate to the assessee; absent such proof, liability cannot be fastened on mere suspicion.

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