Failure of AO to Provide Personal Hearing in Spite of an Express Request Vitiated Assessment Order | HC

Case Details: Tvl. M.S. Enterprises v. State Tax Officer - [2024] 162 taxmann.com 263 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, J.
• D. Vijayakumar for the Petitioner. 
• V. Prashanth Kiran, Govt. Adv. (Tax) for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was a registered person under GST. It received a show cause notice (SCN) and submitted reply to the same and a personal hearing was expressly requested. However, the impugned order was issued without providing hearing opportunity. It filed writ petition against the order and contended that personal hearing was not provided.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the petitioner had submitted reply to all defects mentioned in the show cause notice. On perusal of the petitioner’s reply, it appeared that the petitioner did not annex supporting documents. However, the failure of the respondent to provide a personal hearing in spite of an express request for a personal hearing would vitiate the impugned orders. Therefore, it was held that the impugned orders were to be quashed and the matter was to be remanded for reconsideration.