Show-cause notice mandatory before finalising assessments; procedural defect led to setting aside and remand for fresh adjudication.

A show-cause notice was required before finalising the assessments and raising the consequential demand. Even if the assessments were provisional, the department could not proceed to finalisation without giving notice, and the original authority could examine whether the assessments were in fact provisional after such notice. Because this procedural requirement was not followed, the impugned orders could not be sustained. The matter was therefore remanded for fresh adjudication, with directions to issue notice and reconsider the dispute anew.

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Issues: Whether a show-cause notice was mandatory before finalisation of the assessments and consequential demand, and whether the matter required remand for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The dispute turned on the legality of finalising the assessments without issuing a show-cause notice. The Tribunal held that, even assuming the assessments were provisional, the department was required to issue a notice before proceeding further. The question whether the assessments were truly provisional or otherwise could itself be examined by the original authority in response to such notice. In view of the applicable case law and the procedural defect, the impugned orders could not stand.

Conclusion: The show-cause notice was held to be mandatory, and the orders of the lower authorities were set aside with a direction to issue notice and reconsider the matter afresh on remand.

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