Procedural fairness in tax reassessment requires considering objections and granting hearing before recovery or fresh orders are made.

Under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, reassessment and recovery based on reversal of input tax credit cannot proceed where the assessee has sought time to file objections to pre-revision notices and that request is left undecided. The authority must first consider the request, then receive objections and afford a hearing before passing further orders. Recovery initiated without dealing with the request or objections is procedurally unsustainable. The impugned orders were therefore interfered with, and fresh consideration was directed after objections and hearing.

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Issues: Whether the reassessment and recovery orders could be sustained when the assessee's request for time to file objections to the pre-revision notices had not been considered and no opportunity of hearing had been afforded before proceeding further.

Analysis: The Returns had been accepted on self-assessment basis under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, and the impugned action was taken on the footing that Input Tax Credit had to be reversed under Section 19(4). However, the record showed that the assessee had sought time to file objections to the pre-revision notices. Once such a request was made, it was incumbent on the authority to take a decision on it and thereafter proceed only after considering the objections and granting hearing. The recovery was initiated without first dealing with the request or objections, which rendered the course adopted procedurally unsustainable.

Conclusion: The impugned orders were interfered with, and the petitioner was directed to file objections, after which the respondent was to consider them, afford a hearing, and pass fresh orders in accordance with law.

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