TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1968 (9) TMI 30
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....reads as follows : " Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in rejecting the yield of pepper returned by the assessee and confirming the estimated assessment of the yield by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner." The assessee owns a pepper plantation, a small rubber estate, some paddy lands and his residential property. For the assessment year 1960-61, the assessee returned a total income of Rs. 1,789.90. The assessee maintains proper accounts for the pepper plantation and rubber estate. The Income-tax Officer rejected the accounts, and made a best judgment assessment, fixing the total income at Rs. 28,543.17. The income from paddy was fixed at Rs. 948 being the value of 316 paras of paddy; ....
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....revious year, as against 8 candies 16 thulams and 15 lbs. disclosed by the assessee's accounts. The assessee went in apppeal before the Appellate Assistant Commissioner. As per the previous assessment year, he held that there was no reason to reject the assessee's accounts regarding income from rubber, and that the accounts should be accepted in this respect. Regarding the income from pepper, he did not consider the acceptability of the accounts ; and he estimated the yield at 18 candies as was done for the previous assessment. Accordingly, he set aside the order of assessment and remitted the case to the Income-tax Officer for making a fresh assessment. The assessee filed an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal claiming that his books of a....
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.... in George Oommen v. Commissioner of Income-tax. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner his found that no inspection or enquiry as stated in the assessment order had been conducted. The assessment records, produced before us also do not reveal any such inspection or enquiry. The Appellate Assistant Commissioner has, therefore, discarded this and reduced, the estimate, to 18 candies as in the previous year. There is no contention before us that the yield for the previous year was not 18 candies. There is also no contention as to the number of vines and it is also conceded that the number is correct. The vines are seen to be in developing stage as revealed by records. The yield returned for the year in appeal is only 8 candies 10 thulams which ....
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....e yield disclosed by the books of account does not satisfactorily compare with the yield as estimated by the assessing authority for the previous accounting year is no ground for rejecting the accounts of an assessee. When the books of account are found unacceptable for valid reasons, the estimate of income made for the previous accounting year may provide in certain cases a guide in determining the income of the subsequent year on a best judgment basis. It is a well-known fact that the yield from pepper vines would vary from year to year to a large extent, depending on several facts. So, in the case of pepper, the yield obtained in one year would not furnish any guidance for estimating the yield for any subsequent year. The second ground ....