Rajendra Nath Mittal, J.

1. In compliance with the directions of this Court in Sales Tax Case No. 9 of 1968 dated 16th July, 1973, the Sales Tax Tribunal referred the following question of law under Section 22(3) of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), for the opinion of this Court:

Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of this case, the Assessing Authority had any power under Sub-section (3) of Section 14 of the Act, to record statement of the assessee to find out if he is liable to be assessed or not ?

2. Briefly, the facts as given in the reference order are as follows:

The petitioner, Shri Baldev Raj Kabaria, an unregistered dealer, is carrying on the business of sales and purchases of wool and yarn waste. The relevant assessment year is 1963-64 and the period for which the assessment has been made is from 2nd March, 1964, to 31st March, 1964. The Excise and Taxation Officer made a surprise visit to the shop of the petitioner on 17th November, 1964, and found that he was an illiterate person and did not maintain the account books. He recorded his statement and got that thumb-marked from him. He again visited the shop of t