The principal issue was whether books of account could be...

The principal issue was whether books of account could be rejected under s.145 for non-maintenance of item-wise and month-wise stock registers and whether a gross profit estimate could be raised. The Tribunal held that where audited regular books exist, physical year-end stock verification is conducted, major consumable quantities are recorded, and no inflation of purchases or suppression of sales is found, mere non-maintenance of a particular stock register format is not a valid ground to reject accounts; reliance on precedent affirmed this legal basis. Consequently, the arbitrary uplift of gross profit from ~8.5% to 11% and rejection under s.145 were unsustainable and deleted. - ITAT

---