*Orissa Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1993**
| [Orissa Act No. 8 of 1993] | [29th March, 1993] |
An Act further to amend the Orissa sales tax act, 1947.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Orissa in the Forty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
* For the Bill see Orissa Gazette, extraordinary, dated the 23rd February, 1993 (No. 313).
** [Received the assent of the Governor on the 29th March, 1993, first published in an extraordinary issue of the Orissa Gazette, dated the 2nd April, 1993]
1. Short title.- This Act may be called the Orissa Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1993.
2. Amendment of Section 3.- In the Orissa Sales Tax Act, 1547 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), Orissa Act in sub-section (2-e) of Section 3, for clause (a), the following clause shall be substituted, 14 of 1947, namely:-
"(a) the functions of the Tribunal may be exercised-
(i) by a Bench consisting of a single member as constituted by the Chairman when the total disputed amount of tax including surcharge, if any, and penalty involved in a case does not exceed rupees twenty thousand;
(ii) by a Bench consisting of a Judicial member and Accounts member as may be constituted by the Chairman, when the total disputed amount of tax including surcharge, if any, and penalty involved in a case exceeds rupees twenty thousand, but does not exceed rupees one lakh; and
(iii) by a Bench consisting of three members of the Tribunal when the total disputed amount of tax including surcharge, if any, and penalty involved in a case exceeds rupees one lakh;"
3. Amendment of Section 12.- In the principal Act, after sub-section (8) of Section 12, the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:-
"(9) If the Commissioner is satisfied that any dealer has, with a view to evading or avoiding payment of tax, effected sales of any goods or class of goods to favoured buyers or shown in his accounts sales or purchases at prices, which are unreasonably low compared to the prevailing market price of such goods, he may at the time of assessment or, where the assessment has been completed, at any time within a period of five years from the expiry of the year to which the sales or, as the case may be, the accounts relate, estimate the price of such goods on the basis of market price thereof prevailing at the time when such sales were effected or, as the case may be, such accounts were shown, and assess or, as the case may be, reassess the dealer to the best of his judgment, after making such enquiry as he may consider necessary and after giving the dealer a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
Explanation-For the purpose of this sub-section, where the prices shown in accounts are unreasonably low in respect of sales or purchases of any goods or class of goods, it shall be deemed that the dealer having effected sales at prevailing market prices has shown such low prices in the accounts.
(10) Provisions of sub-section (9) shall also apply to assessments under sub-sections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and (S) and enhancement of assessments made, and fresh assessments directed, under Section 23."