Natural justice in sales tax assessment: defective Form F must be disclosed or returned for rectification before finalisation.

Assessment under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 read with the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956 was held to be procedurally defective where Form F was rejected for incomplete columns without specifically informing the assessee of the defects in the pre-assessment notice or returning the forms for rectification. A fair opportunity required disclosure of the defects before finalisation or return of the defective forms for correction and resubmission. As neither step was taken, the assessment process was vitiated. The final assessment orders were quashed and the matters remanded for fresh consideration after permitting rectification and resubmission of Form F.

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Issues: Whether the final assessment orders rejecting Form F as defective without first notifying the defects in the pre-assessment notice or returning the forms for rectification were liable to be quashed for breach of natural justice and the governing statutory procedure.

Analysis: The assessment was made under section 12 of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 read with section 9(2) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. The forms were rejected because certain columns were left unfilled, but the defects were not specifically brought to the assessee's notice in the pre-assessment notice and the forms were not returned for correction. A fair opportunity required either disclosure of the defects before finalisation or return of the defective forms so that the assessee could rectify and resubmit them. Since neither course was followed, the assessment procedure was held to be vitiated.

Conclusion: The final assessment orders were quashed and the matters were remanded to the respondent for fresh consideration after returning the defective Form F and permitting rectification and resubmission.

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