Bona fide wastage claim in curry powder manufacturing accepted where records and trade conditions supported the loss.

Wastage claimed in the manufacture and sale of curry powder was accepted as bona fide where the nature of the business made recovery or sale of waste material difficult, and later assessments had accepted higher wastage percentages on detailed commodity-wise and item-wise records. The Tribunal held that disallowance based only on suspicion or conjecture was not justified, and the full wastage claim was allowed for both assessment years.

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Issues: Whether the assessee was entitled to the full wastage claimed in the manufacture and sale of curry powder for the relevant assessment years.

Analysis: The assessee's wastage claim was supported by the nature of the business, the difficulty of recovering or selling the wasted material, and later assessments where higher wastage percentages were accepted on the basis of detailed commodity-wise and item-wise records. The Tribunal found the claim to be ordinarily bona fide in this trade and held that disallowance based on mere suspicion or conjecture was not justified.

Conclusion: The full wastage claimed by the assessee was accepted for both years.

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