H.R.Sodhi, J.

1. A Bench of this court by an order dated 15th April, 1968, directed the Financial Commissioner, Punjab, under Sub-section (3) of Section 22 of the Punjab General Sales Tax Act, 1948 (hereinafter called the Act), to state and refer to this court for decision the following question :

Whether there is any evidence, and if so what, to show that collusion exists between the petitioner-firm and the seven registered dealers.

2. Before answering the referred question, it is necessary to state a few facts

3. M/s. Devinder Kumar Kewal Kumar deal in sugar and vegetable ghee on wholesale basis at Ludhiana, and are registered dealers under the Act. For the assessment year 1955-56, the assessing authority assessed the dealers to sales tax at Rs. 56,013-4-3 on enhancing the turnover of the assessee from the returned one of Rs. 18,84,573-0-9 to Rs. 24,00,000. Sales in favour of alleged registered dealers for which deductions were claimed by the assessee were disallowed holding that these transactions were not genuine and none of the concerns was in fact in existence at the relevant time. The following are the dealers to whom sales had been made against declaration in form S