Writ interference with tax assessments declined; assessee relegated to rectification remedy with personal hearing and interim recovery protection.

Assessment orders will not ordinarily be interfered with in writ jurisdiction where the assessing authority has already considered material and partly accepted the show cause proposal. On a grievance of incomplete verification and the request for another opportunity, the Court directed the assessee to pursue the statutory rectification remedy under Section 84 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006, and required the authority to grant a personal hearing, examine the objections effectively, and pass orders in accordance with law. Interim protection against coercive recovery was also directed pending such recourse.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders should be interfered with in writ jurisdiction, or the petitioner should be relegated to seek rectification under Section 84 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006.

Analysis: The impugned assessments reflected partial acceptance of the proposal in the show cause notices, indicating that the assessing authority had already considered some material placed before it. In view of the grievance regarding incomplete verification and the request for another opportunity, the Court found that the appropriate course was not to set aside the assessments in their entirety. Instead, the petitioner was directed to invoke the statutory rectification remedy, and the respondent was directed to give a personal hearing, examine the points raised effectively, and pass orders in accordance with law. Protection against coercive recovery was also directed meanwhile.

Conclusion: The Court declined to interfere with the assessment orders in writ proceedings and relegated the petitioner to the rectification remedy under Section 84 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006.

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