Best judgment assessment requires a real hearing; an illusory next-day notice and order breached natural justice.

Best judgment assessment under the Kerala Value Added Tax regime requires a meaningful opportunity for the dealer to rectify defects or show cause before the authority departs from self-assessment. A notice proposing such assessment must allow a reasonable response period; a composite or immediate disposal that makes the notice ineffective fails fair procedure. Because the assessment was passed the next day after notice, the opportunity was illusory and the assessment was vitiated by breach of natural justice; the order was quashed.

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Issues: Whether the best judgment assessment completed under the Kerala Value Added Tax regime without granting an effective opportunity of hearing to the assessee was liable to be quashed.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act and Rules contemplates self-assessment as the norm, with best judgment assessment being resorted to only when the return is found defective, unsupported, or incorrect and the dealer is given a meaningful chance to rectify the defects or show cause. A notice proposing best judgment assessment must afford a reasonable period to respond, and a composite or immediate disposal that renders the notice meaningless does not satisfy the requirements of fair procedure. Since the assessment order was passed the very next day after notice, the opportunity granted was illusory and the assessment stood vitiated by breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The assessment order was quashed and the assessee succeeded.

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