https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=149978 Best judgment assessment could not be made on an erroneous assumption that the assessee had withheld evidence when the seized account books were in the custody of the Central Excise authorities. The assessing authority was required to exercise its power to call for the relevant documents before completing the assessment, and a best judgment assessment had to be based on surrounding circumstances and all relevant material. Late return filing could attract penalty, but it did not justify denying the assessee an opportunity to produce evidence or proceeding ex parte. Fresh assessment was therefore required after the documents were summoned and considered. en-us Mon, 12 Oct 1970 00:00:00 +0530 Tue, 07 May 2013 14:18:09 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=149978 Best judgment assessment could not be made on an erroneous assumption that the assessee had withheld evidence when the seized account books were in the custody of the Central Excise authorities. The assessing authority was required to exercise its power to call for the relevant documents before completing the assessment, and a best judgment assessment had to be based on surrounding circumstances and all relevant material. Late return filing could attract penalty, but it did not justify denying the assessee an opportunity to produce evidence or proceeding ex parte. Fresh assessment was therefore required after the documents were summoned and considered. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Mon, 12 Oct 1970 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=149978