Proof of service is essential in assessment proceedings; failure to establish notice service vitiates the order and justifies remand.
An assessment based on alleged non-response to a notice cannot be sustained unless due service of the notice is proved. Here, the authority failed to produce acknowledgment or returned postal cover for the later notice, so service was not established and the assessment was held vitiated for breach of natural justice. The assessment order was therefore set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration, with the petitioner to be given an opportunity to file objections and documents. The exemption claim was left open for determination afresh by the Assessing Officer in accordance with law.
Issues: Whether the assessment order was liable to be set aside for want of proper service of notice and violation of natural justice, and whether the matter required remand for fresh assessment.
Analysis: The assessment was founded on the alleged non-response to the notice of proposal. The first notice was not disputed, but the later notices were specifically denied as having been served. The authority did not produce acknowledgment or returned postal cover to establish service of the notice dated 22.04.2019. In the absence of proof of service, the assessment could not be sustained as having been passed after affording a proper opportunity. At the same time, the merits of the exemption claim were left open for consideration by the Assessing Officer on the basis of documents to be produced by the petitioner.
Conclusion: The assessment order was set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after giving the petitioner an opportunity to file objections and documents.
Final Conclusion: The petitioner obtained procedural relief through remand, while the substantive claim was left to be decided afresh by the Assessing Officer in accordance with law.
Ratio Decidendi: An assessment based on alleged non-response to notice cannot be sustained unless due service of the notice is proved, and failure to establish service amounts to denial of natural justice warranting remand.
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