Natural justice in tax assessment requires disclosure of third-party material and cross-examination when requested.

An assessment based on third-party material collected behind the dealer's back cannot be sustained unless the material is disclosed and a fair opportunity to rebut it is given. Where the Assessing Authority relies on adverse information and denies cross-examination of the person who supplied it, the procedure breaches natural justice under the Haryana General Sales Tax framework. The assessment order was therefore vitiated, and the impugned assessment and appellate affirmations were quashed, with liberty to make a fresh assessment after granting a proper hearing.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order could be sustained when material collected from a third party was used against the dealer without disclosure and without permitting cross-examination of the person who supplied it.

Analysis: The assessment procedure under Section 28 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973 and Rule 26 of the Haryana General Sales Tax Rules, 1975 requires the Assessing Authority to follow a fair procedure consistent with the principles of natural justice. Where the authority relies on information obtained behind the back of the assessee and uses it to record an adverse finding, the assessee must be given access to that material and a fair opportunity to rebut it. If the assessee seeks summoning or cross-examination of the person who supplied the incriminating information, refusal of that request deprives the assessee of an effective opportunity to test the truthfulness of the material relied upon.

Conclusion: The assessment order was vitiated for breach of natural justice and could not stand.

Final Conclusion: The impugned assessment and the appellate affirmations were quashed, with liberty to the Assessing Authority to undertake a fresh assessment after affording a proper hearing to the dealer.

Ratio Decidendi: When an assessment is founded on third-party material collected behind the assessee's back, fairness requires disclosure of that material and a real opportunity to challenge it, including cross-examination where sought.

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