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These books and records not having been produced or disclosed, there was obviously no opportunity to the Unions to verify either of the two figures, viz., Rs. 28.64 lacs or Rs. 28.82 lacs. It is true that Verma said that the calculations shown to the auditors could be produced but he qualified the offer by saying that would be done if the Tribunal required.

Since the company claimed the deduction of depreciation, it stands to reason that the burden of proof that the depreciation claimed by it was the correct amount in accordance with the Income Tax Act was on the Company and that burden the company must discharge once its figures were challenged. But it was; contended that once the company produced its auditors' certificate. that should be sufficient and must be accepted and that the Tribunal should not insist either on the auditors proving their certificate or on the company proving depreciation on each and every item of depreciable asset. Such an enquiry before the Tribunal, it was argued, would be a harassing and prolonged enquiry, not contemplated in industrial adjudication and, therefore, the Tribunal ought to have accepted as correct Rs. 28.82 lacs certified by the auditors. Under sec. 23 of the Act the presumption of accuracy is allowed only to the balance sheet and the P & L Account of companies. No such presumption is provided for by the Act to auditors' certificates. Speaking of rehabilitation amount deductible as a prior charge under the Full Bench formula while working out the available surplus this Court in Khandesh Spg. ana Wvg. Mills Co. Ltd. v. Rashtriya Girni Kamgar Sangh(1) observed at page 847 as follows:

The necessity of proper proof of the correctness of statements in the balance-sheet was repeated in Petlad Turkey Red Dye Works Ltd. v. Dyes & Chemical Workers' Union(1). These observations made with regard to balance- sheets and P & L accounts would equally apply to statements made in ,the auditors' certificates 'prepared on the instructions and information supplied to them by employers. Mere production of auditors' certificate, especially when it is not admitted by labour, not by the auditors but by the employees of the company who admitted not to have been concerned with its preparation or the calculations on which it was based. would not be conclusive. We do not say that in such a case the Tribunal should insist upon proof of depreciation on each and every item of the assets. It should, however, insist on some reasonable proof of the correctness of the figure of depreciation claimed by the employer either by examining the auditors who calculated and certified it or by some other proper proof. Depreciation in some cases would be of a large amount affecting materially the available surplus. Fairness, therefore, requires that an opportunity must be given 'to the employees to verify such figures by cross-examination of the employer or his witnesses who have calculated depreciation amount. Notwithstanding the Unions' challenge to the figure of depreciation claimed by the company, the only thing that the company did was to examine Verma, who admittedly had nothing to do with its calculation, and to produce through him the said certificate. In our view, that was neither proper nor sufficient. The proper course for the Tribunal in such a case was to insist upon the company adducing legal evidence in support of its claim instead of taking the figure of depreciation from the P & L account which was not worked out in accordance with the Income Tax Act but under sec. 205 of the Companies Act, and saying that the Company had failed to prove that it was a mistaken figure. In our view, the question as to the correct amount of depreciation must go back to the Tribunal for a fresh decision. The Tribunal should give opportunity to the Company to prove its claim for depreciation by reasonable proof and to the Unions to test such evidence by cross-examination or otherwise. (1) [1960] 2 S.C.R. 906, 909.