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Judgment
Ismail, C.J.—The entire sales turnover of dressed hides and skins was assessed to tax at 1 1/2 per cent under item 7(b) of the Second
Schedule to the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act. Subsequently the assessing authority wanted to reopen the assessment by taking away part of
the sales turnover from the turnover already assessed for finding out the corresponding purchase turnover of the raw hides and skins and subjecting
it to a tax at 3 per cent, purporting to do the same u/s 16 of the Act. The Tribunal held that section 16 will not apply to such a situation and
therefore the assessing authority had no right to revise the assessment. It is the correctness of this conclusion of the Tribunal that is challenged.
It is not disputed that the entire sales turnover of the tanned hides and skins had been assessed to tax at 1 1/2 per cent under item 7(b) as
referred to already. Section 16(1)(b) of the Act on which alone reliance has been placed says :
Where, for any reason, the whole or any part of the turnover of business of a dealer has been assessed at a rate lower than the rate at which it is
assessable, the assessing authority may, at any time within a period of five years from the expiry of the year to which the tax relates, reassess the
tax due after making such enquiry as it may consider necessary and after giving the dealer a reasonable opportunity to show cause against such
reassessment.
In this case, as we pointed out already and as admitted, the entire sales turnover relating to the tanned hides and skins had been assessed at 1
1/2 per cent under item 7(b) and the sales turnover was assessable only under that item. only if the whole or any part of this turnover had escaped
such assessment, the whole or any part of the turnover can he said to have been assessed at a rate lower than the rate at which the same was
assessable so as to attract the provisions of section 16(1)(b). That not being the case, the order of the Tribunal cannot be said to be erroneous in
law and consequently the tax revision case is dismissed.
Petition dismissed.