Court sets aside Order due to violation of natural justice principles in Writ Petition challenge.

The court allowed the Writ Petition challenging an Order imposing liability under Section 73(2) due to alleged violation of natural justice principles. The petitioner, an amalgamated company, was granted an opportunity to respond to show cause notices and participate in a personal hearing. The impugned Order was set aside, and the petitioner was directed to file a response by a specified date for further proceedings. No costs were imposed, and pending miscellaneous petitions were to be dismissed.

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Issues:
Challenge to Order imposing liability under Section 73(2) and other provisions based on violation of principles of natural justice.

Analysis:
The petitioner challenged an Order passed by the Commissioner of Service Tax, seeking to bypass the departmental appeal process due to alleged violation of natural justice principles. The petitioner contended that the amalgamated assessee was not served with show cause notices or provided with personal hearing opportunities. The court directed the respondents to provide documents regarding the service of notices.

The respondents submitted a counter affidavit with copies of show cause notices, Panchanama for service, and letters of intimation for personal hearing, along with returned postal covers. It was revealed that genuine efforts were made to serve the notices on the assessee, but they were unsuccessful as the assessee had vacated the address. The respondents argued that they had complied with statutory requirements under relevant Acts, indicating no breach of natural justice principles.

Had the original assessee appeared, the contention of natural justice violation would have been rejected due to failure to update the address as required by law and completion of necessary procedures by the respondents. However, as the petitioner was a company that amalgamated with the assessee post the alleged violations, the court found the lack of knowledge on the part of the petitioner to be genuine. Therefore, the petitioner was granted an opportunity to respond to the show cause notice and participate in a personal hearing.

Consequently, the Writ Petition was allowed, setting aside the impugned Order. The petitioner was directed to file a response to the show cause notice by a specified date, after which the respondents would schedule a personal hearing and issue Orders as per the law. The petitioner was instructed to provide an address for future correspondence. Any pending miscellaneous petitions in the writ petition were to be dismissed, with no costs imposed.

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