Mandatory personal hearing before sales tax registration cancellation; writ jurisdiction remains open despite a revisional remedy.

Cancellation of a sales tax registration certificate was held unsustainable where the statute required the dealer to be given an opportunity of being heard before cancellation, but only notice and objections were exchanged and no personal hearing was afforded. The Court applied the settled principle that when a statute prescribes the manner of doing an act, it must be done in that manner or not at all, especially where the power is drastic and carries serious civil consequences. It further held that the existence of a revisional remedy did not bar writ jurisdiction where the impugned order was vitiated by breach of mandatory procedure and natural justice.

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Issues: Whether the cancellation of the sales tax registration certificate could be sustained when the dealer was not afforded a personal hearing under the statute, and whether the existence of a revisional remedy barred the writ petitions.

Analysis: The statutory scheme empowered the prescribed authority to cancel a registration certificate for good and sufficient reasons, but expressly prohibited action under the cancellation power unless the dealer had been given an opportunity of being heard. The record showed that only notice and objections were exchanged, and no personal hearing was afforded before cancellation. The Court applied the settled rule that where a statute prescribes the manner of doing an act, it must be done in that manner or not at all, particularly where the power exercised is drastic and has serious civil consequences. On the objection of alternative remedy, the Court held that revisional jurisdiction does not by itself bar writ jurisdiction, especially where the impugned order is vitiated by breach of mandatory procedure and violation of natural justice.

Conclusion: The cancellation order was unsustainable for breach of the mandatory requirement of personal hearing, and the writ petitions were maintainable notwithstanding the revisional remedy.

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