Natural justice and personal hearing requirements led to remand of the assessment for fresh consideration.

Denial of a personal hearing before passing an assessment order vitiated the order, because the right to be heard is part of natural justice. The Madras HC set aside the assessment order levying tax on cement-company discounts and remanded the matter for fresh consideration. The assessing authority must grant the appellant a personal hearing and consider, on its own merits, whether a similarly placed dealer's assessment order should be applied to the appellant.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order levying tax on discounts offered by cement companies was liable to be set aside for denial of personal hearing and the matter remitted for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The appellant was not granted a personal hearing before the assessment order was passed. The right of hearing is a component of natural justice and, in the circumstances, the absence of such hearing vitiated the order. The Court therefore set aside the assessment order and remitted the matter to the assessing authority, leaving it open to the appellant to produce the assessment order relating to a similarly placed dealer and to seek similar treatment. The authority was directed to consider the applicability of that order on its own merits.

Conclusion: The assessment order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the respondent for fresh consideration after granting personal hearing to the appellant.

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