9911796707
TMI Blog1998 (2) TMI 580X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the said slip, the following factors were revealed, in the sense of the said slip reading as below: "TCZ 2655. Empty 6,660. Load 15,875. Thiru Rajendran, Madras-79-Chittoor, Bangalore, Pune, Bombay .". 3.. The Enforcement officials, it appears, demanded explanation for the entries in the said slip. One A. Gopal Chettiar, claiming to be a partner, stated that they sold 9,570 kgs. of groundnut oil to Bombay dealers. Tvl. Ahamed Umar Bai in bill No. 4/22.8.1989 for Rs. 2,63,175 and the same was despatched in lorry No. TCZ 2655. For the difference of 355 kgs. between this sale bill and the slip, he had stated that after weighment, 355 kgs. were filled up to adjust the lorry hire. This sort of an explanation, as trotted out by the said A. Gopal Chettiar, was not accepted by the assessing officer as the weight of the oil sold and noted in the sale bill did not tally and further the assessee-dealers would have sold many loads of groundnut oil and the said loads could have been sent in the same vehicle so many times. As long as the slip did not contain the date, the different transactions contained in the slip had to be taken as sales of groundnut oil, outside the State, duri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tic a proposition of law it is, the Tribunal is the ultimate fact-finding authority. The findings recorded, on the facts, by the Tribunal are, therefore, not normally interfered with. It is not as if, in all eventualities and situations, the findings recorded by the Tribunal, of fact, are sustained, without any sort of an interference by this Court-a revisional authority. Sometimes, it does happen that the ultimate fact-finding authority-the Tribunalrecords certain findings, not based on any base material or material facts relevant for recording any finding. It also happens on certain occasions that such fact-finding authority records findings of fact, on perverse appreciation of facts, so as to choke the conscience of court In such of those circumstances a revisional authority-like this Court-has to necessarily interfere with such findings of facts so recorded in a bid rather to avoid travesty of justice, resulting in allowing such orders to stand. 9.. The case on hand is a glaring example of travesty of justice resulting in by perverse appreciation of the base material or material facts by the Tribunal, which alone, we rather feel, was responsible for allowing of the appeal b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... "load 15,875" may mean the weight of the lorry after it is being loaded. Therefore, the explanation given by the said A. Gopal Chettiar for deducing the figure at 9,215 kgs., as covered by the slip, without any demur, may be accepted. But, at the same time, one should not omit to take notice of the difference in kgs. of groundnut oil between slip No. 5 and bill No. 4 dated August 22, 1989. In slip No. 5, an excess quantity of groundnut oil to the extent of 355 kgs. had been dealt with in comparison to the bill No. 4 dated August 22, 1989. The value of 355 kgs. of excess quantity dealt in slip No. 5, if valued at the rate of Rs. 27.50 per kg. would work out at Rs. 9,762.50. 12.. While correlating slip No. 5 with bill No. 4 dated August 22, 1989 alleged to have been despatched through lorry TCZ 2655 to a dealer in Bombay, the said Gopal Chettiar would trot out an explanation, during the assessment proceedings that such excess quantity was loaded in the said lorry with a view to adjust the payment to be made for freight to the said lorry TCZ 2655. This sort of a puerile explanation so offered had been rightly rejected by the assessing officer and laterly by AAC. If the said lorry i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Dollar Company v. Collector, Madras AIR 1975 SC 1670, what their Lordships of the Supreme Court observed in paragraph 4 (at page 1671), is relevant and it reads as under: " . A court of appeal interferes not when the judgment under attack is not right but only when it is shown to be wrong .." (ii) In S.V.R. Mudaliar v. Mrs. Rajabu F. Buhari AIR 1995 SC 1607, we may get the relevant observations made by their Lordships in paragraphs 14 and 15 and they read as under: "14 . Though the appellate court is within its right to take a different view on a question of fact, that should be done after adverting to the reasons given by the trial judge in arriving at the finding in question . The appellate court should interfere with the judgment under appeal not because it is not right, but when it is shown to be wrong, as observed by three Judge Bench of this Court in Dollar Co. v. Collector of Madras 1975 Supp. SCR 403; AIR 1975 SC 1670 . 15 . the appellate court has to bear in mind the reasons ascribed by the trial court. This view of ours finds support from what was stated by the Privy Council in Rani Hemant Kumari v. Maharaja Jagadhindra Nath (1906) 10 Cal. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nothing but the resultant product of perverse appreciation of the base materials or material facts, which alone led to the decision as it has arrived at and such a decision or order cannot at all be allowed to stand and the same deserves to be set aside. 18.. With regard to the cancellation of the penalty, the reasoning given by the Tribunal is traceable to paragraph 4 of its order and it reads as under: "4. The next issue is with regard to the levy of penalty under section 9 of the Central Sales Tax Act read with section 12(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act. There is no suppression of turnover as discussed above and thus there is no question of levying penalty. Therefore, the penalty of Rs. 12,671 as sustained by the first appellate authority is cancelled." 19.. The Tribunal cancelled even the reduced penalty of Rs. 12,671, as had been sustained by the first appellate authority on the ground of there being no suppression of turnover. We have earlier arrived at a conclusion that the finding of the Tribunal that there was no suppression of sales turnover was based upon perverse appreciation of the materials and the same deserves to be set aside. The very finding i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
