TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1978 (8) TMI 178
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....leave which are directed against the common judgment and order dated August 3, 1973, of the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam in Criminal Appeals Nos. 241, 244 and 256 of 1972 and R.C. Nos. 3, 4 and 5 of 1972 upholding the acquittal of the respondents who were partners of the firm called Kallupalam Lad's Jewellery Mart, Kottayam, registered for jewellery business under the provisions of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act"), and the Rules made thereunder of the charges under section 46(1)(a) of the Act for submission of untrue returns, under section 46(1)(c) of the Act for failure to keep true and complete accounts, and under section 46(2)(c) of the Act for fraudulent evasion of tax must be dismissed ....
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....diary size account books, ledger size account books, exercise account books and quarter size papers lying on that very table. The inspecting party took hold of the second set of account books and started checking and comparing the entries existing therein with the entries in the aforesaid books of account produced by respondent No. 1 on their demand. Finding that a number of transactions of sale and purchase of the jewellery entered in the second set of account books, which hereinafter will be referred for the sake of convenience and to avoid confusion as "the secret books of account" as described by the courts below, were not entered in the books of account produced by respondent No. 1 on demand by him (which will hereinafter be referred ....
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....e. Dissatisfied with the order of acquittal passed by the Additional Sessions judge and affirmed by the High Court, the State moved this Court for grant of special leave to appeal which was granted-vide order dated April 26, 1974. We have heard Mr. K.T. Harindranath who has appeared in support of the appeals as also Mr. R.L. Kohli who has appeared for the respondents. It is true that courts of law have to judge the evidence before them by applying the well-recognised test of basic human probabilities and that some of the observations made by the Sessions Judge especially one to the effect that "the evidence of officers constituting the inspecting party is highly interested because they want that the accused are convicted " cannot be accep....
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....issioner, were recovered from a place which formed part of the business premises of the respondents or was in their exclusive possession and control. The members of the inspecting party themselves have admitted that these books were found lying on the table in the room adjacent to the show-room of the respondents and they could not say whether that room belonged to the respondents or not. It is also not denied by the prosecution that the said room is accessible through Kallupalam Auto Stores also. That apart, no cogent and convincing proof has been adduced by the prosecution to establish that the secret books of account were maintained by the respondents or that they had any link or connection with them. No witness on behalf of the prosecu....
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....aid books of account were in the handwriting of either of the respondents or their accountant or clerk or some other person employed by them. The third method indicated above could have been adopted by following one or more of the ordinary modes provided in the Evidence Act for proving the handwriting, i.e., (i) by calling the accountant or clerk or some other employee of the respondents who is supposed to have posted the entries in the account books, (ii) by calling a person in whose presence the account books were written, (iii) by calling a handwriting expert to testify that the entries in the secret books of account tallied with the admitted specimen writing of the respondents or any of their employees, (iv) by calling a person acqu....