S.S.Sandhawalia, J.

1. Should the "information which has come into his possession", as envisaged by Sec.18(1) of the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1959 , for purposes of reassessment, necessarily spring from a source external to the original record? This is the significant question which has necessitated this reference to the Full Bench. Equally at issue is the correctness of the view of the Division Bench in Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 1400 of 1973 (Satya Narainji Mills V/s. State of Bihar) decided on 13th August, 1976.

2. Since we propose to answer the aforesaid pristinely legal questions only, it seems unnecessary to delve deeply into the facts. It suffices to mention that the petitioner-firm Messrs. Bhimraj Madan Lal is a registered dealer under the Bihar Sales Tax Act, 1959 (hereinafter called "the Act"), and is inter alia engaged in the manufacture of various kinds of pulses. For this purpose, it purchases whole grains like arhar, khesari, masoor, etc., from producers as well as registered dealers for sale of its products within the State as also outside the State through its agents as well as in the course of inter-State trade and commerce. The petitioner-firms assessmen