Mandatory cancellation for discontinued business does not require a second notice when continuing activity was already put in issue.

Where a registration certificate is liable to mandatory cancellation once the authority finds that the dealer's business has been discontinued, the decisive issue is the factual existence of continued business activity. The dealer had already been asked to produce records and prove that the business was still operating, and the materials showed repeated non-production of records and circumstances supporting discontinuance. On that basis, the authority could cancel the registration under section 7(6)(a) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941. Natural justice did not require a second show-cause notice repeating the inevitable consequence of an adverse finding, because the earlier opportunity to meet the factual issue was sufficient.

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Issues: Whether, after a dealer had been given an opportunity to produce evidence to show that its business was still continuing, a separate show-cause notice was required before cancelling the registration certificate under section 7(6)(a) of the Bengal Finance (Sales Tax) Act, 1941, on the finding that the business had been discontinued.

Analysis: Section 7(6)(a) provided that where the business in respect of which registration had been granted was discontinued, the registration had to be cancelled. The only factual question was whether the dealer had in fact ceased to carry on the business. The dealer had already been called upon to produce records and to establish that the business continued, and the materials before the authority showed repeated non-production of records and circumstances supporting the conclusion that the business had been discontinued. Once that factual determination was reached, the statute left no discretion to the authority. The prior notice calling for proof of continuing business sufficiently informed the dealer of the step contemplated under the law, and natural justice did not require a second notice repeating the inevitable consequence of an adverse finding.

Conclusion: No further show-cause notice was required before cancellation of the registration certificate after the dealer had been given an opportunity to prove that the business was continuing. The cancellation order was valid and the challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute makes cancellation mandatory upon a finding that the registered business has been discontinued, and the dealer has already been afforded an opportunity to establish that the business is continuing, natural justice does not require a second notice before cancellation follows from the adverse factual finding.

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