Procedural fairness in sales tax revision requires a real chance to object and produce documents before merits are decided.

A revisional order under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act was set aside because the assessee was denied a fair opportunity to file objections and produce documents. The revisional authority had relied on objections filed in connected entry tax proceedings without properly distinguishing them from the sales tax revision, and it did not grant time to place material that had been accepted at the appellate stage. The matter was remitted for fresh decision on merits after giving the assessee sufficient opportunity to be heard and to submit documents.

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Issues: Whether the revisional order under the sales tax enactment was vitiated for want of opportunity to the assessee and whether the matter should be remitted for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The assessee had not filed objections in the proceedings under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act, 1957, while objections had been filed in the connected entry tax proceedings. The revisional authority proceeded on the basis of those objections and disposed of the matter without properly addressing the distinction between the two proceedings. The record also showed that the assessee sought time to produce documents that had been accepted at the appellate stage, but such opportunity was not afforded. In these circumstances, the absence of a fair chance to file objections and place documents before the revisional authority amounted to a failure of procedural fairness.

Conclusion: The revisional order was set aside and the matter was remitted to the revisional authority for fresh decision on merits after giving the assessee sufficient opportunity to file objections and produce documents.

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