Independent consideration of dealer objections required; mechanically relying on inspection reports renders assessment orders unsustainable.

Assessment orders were unsustainable where the Assessing Officer failed to independently consider the dealer's detailed objections and instead mechanically adopted the Enforcement Wing report. The authority was required to examine the objections on their merits, verify the records produced, and give reasons for accepting or rejecting the explanation of clerical error and the claim of exemption. Because the orders showed no real application of mind, they were set aside and remitted for fresh consideration after independent scrutiny of the objections and records and after affording personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders were liable to be set aside for failure to independently consider the dealer's objections and for being passed by mechanically relying upon the Enforcement Wing report.

Analysis: The objections filed by the dealer were detailed and addressed the defects noticed in the inspection report. The Assessing Officer was required to examine those objections on their own merits, verify the records produced, and decide whether the explanation of clerical error and the claim of exemption were acceptable. Instead, the assessment orders substantially reproduced the Enforcement Wing findings, gave no independent reasons for rejecting the objections, and disclosed no real application of mind. In such circumstances, the pre-revision process would be rendered meaningless if the assessing authority merely adopted the inspection report without independent scrutiny.

Conclusion: The assessment orders were unsustainable and were rightly set aside, with the matters remitted for fresh consideration after independent examination of the objections and records and after affording personal hearing to the dealer.

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