Adjournment request must be decided before summary assessment; failure to do so vitiates the assessment and requires rehearing.

An assessing authority must judiciously consider a dealer's adjournment request before making a summary or best judgment assessment under the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976. Where an adjournment application was filed before the hearing date and no order was passed on it, the assessment was vitiated for want of fair opportunity. The proper course in such circumstances is to set aside the assessment and direct a fresh assessment after giving the dealer a reasonable chance to produce books of account and be heard, without prejudice to the revenue.

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Issues: Whether a summary assessment made under the Tripura Sales Tax Act, 1976 could be sustained when an adjournment application filed before the hearing date had not been considered and whether the assessee was entitled to cancellation of the assessment and a fresh assessment after hearing.

Analysis: An assessing authority is required to consider a dealer's adjournment request judiciously before proceeding to make a summary or best judgment assessment. Where the record shows that such an application was filed before the fixed date of hearing and no order was passed on it, the assessment is vitiated. In such a situation, the proper course is to set aside the assessment and afford the dealer a reasonable opportunity to produce its books of account and be heard again, without causing prejudice to the revenue.

Conclusion: The summary assessment was unsustainable and was cancelled, with directions for a fresh assessment after giving the petitioner a reasonable opportunity of hearing.

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