JUDGMENT

SUBBA RAO, J. –

These two appeals by special leave are preferred against the order of the High Court of Kerala in Tax Revision Cases Nos. 52 and 53 of 1960 relating to sales tax assessments made on the respondent for the years 1955-56 and 1956-57 respectively.

The facts in the two appeals may be briefly and separately stated.

The following facts relate to Civil Appeal No. 986 of 1964 in respect of the assessment year 1955-56 : The respondent has two offices, the head office is at Court Road and the branch office, at Big Bazaar. Both the offices are in Kozhikode. The branch office does wholesale business and the head office does retail business and they maintain separate accounts. The goods sent from the branch office to the head office are entered in the accounts as transfers. The head office maintains accounts disclosing the goods so transferred by the branch office and also the goods purchased by it locally. The branch office has also transactions with other customers. On April 6, 1957, the Deputy Commercial Tax Officer, Kozhikode, assessed the respondent on the net turnover of his business of Rs. 9,30,565-10-5 for the assessment year 1955-56. But later on, on a surprise inspection of the head office by the Intelligence Officer, North Zone, Kozhikode, some books of accounts and records were recovered. On October 27, 1958, on the basis of the said books and records, the Sales Tax Officer issued a notice to the respondent proposing to determine to the best of his judgment the turnover which had escaped assessment. The respondent agreed to the Sales Tax Officer assessing the turnover of the head office on the basis of the aforesaid secret books recovered from the shop, but objected to a fresh assessment being made in respect of the branch office at Big Bazaar. That objection was rejected and the Sales Tax Officer reassessed the turnover of the business of the respondent in the following manner : He found that in regard to the head office the transactions disclosed in the secret books were 135 per cent. of the turnover recorded in the regular accounts and on that basis added 135 per cent. to the turnover disclosed in the regular books of the said office. He then applied the same percentage in regard to the assessment of the turnover of the branch office. He added 135 per cent. to the turnover found in the regular accounts of the branch office. He assessed the total turnover of the two offices at Rs. 19,71,805-13-5. On the basis of the said total turnover the respondent was assessed to sales tax amounting to Rs. 16,269.37. The respondent preferred an appeal against the said order of the Sales Tax Officer to the Appellate Assistant Commissioner without any success. The further appeal preferred by him to the Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal was also dismissed. The said order was taken in revision to the High Court of Kerala in T.R.C. No. 52 of 1960.

The facts of Civil Appeal No. 987 of 1964 relating to the assessment for the year 1956-57 are as follows : On the basis of the secret accounts discovered in the surprise inspection of the head office, the Sales Tax Officer issued a notice to the respondent proposing to determine to the best of his judgment the turnover which had escaped assessment. The respondent had no objection for a reassessment being made in respect of the turnover of the head office on the basis of the secret accounts discovered, but objected to the reassessment of the turnover of his branch office. The Sales Tax Officer applied the same principle in regard to the assessments of both the shops as he had adopted in the case of the turnover for the assessment year 1955-56. Taking the head office he found in regard to the general goods that the escaped assessment was 200 per cent. of the turnover assessed; and in regard to sugar, 500 per cent. of the assessed turnover. He, therefore, added 200 per cent. and 500 per cent. to the turnover of the general goods and the turnover of sugar respectively. In the same manne