Fair procedure in reassessment requires independent verification, not mechanical reliance on an Enforcement Wing report.

Revisional assessment under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 cannot be sustained where it is based mechanically on an Enforcement Wing report without independent verification of the dealer's books of accounts. The Court noted that the authority was required to conduct an independent enquiry, consider the dealer's objections to the pre-revision proposal, and follow fair procedure before revising a completed assessment. As those safeguards were not shown to have been followed, the revision orders were quashed and the matter was remanded for fresh consideration with adequate opportunity and personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the revision of assessment orders passed under Section 27 of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006, solely on the basis of the Enforcement Wing report and without independent verification of the dealer's books of accounts, was sustainable in law.

Analysis: The challenge was that the completed assessments were revised mechanically, without an independent assessment and without verification of the dealer's books of accounts, even though the dealer had responded to the pre-revision proposals and undertook to produce records. The settled procedure required the authority to conduct an independent enquiry and not merely accept the Enforcement Wing's web report. The impugned orders did not show adherence to that procedure, and the counter affidavit did not effectively answer the grievance that the revision was made without the necessary verification. The lapse was held to be contrary to the procedure recognised in the earlier decision relied upon and inconsistent with fair procedure.

Conclusion: The revision orders were held unsustainable and were quashed. The matter was remanded to the authority for fresh consideration after affording sufficient opportunity and personal hearing to the dealer and after deciding the objections in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A revision of assessment under the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, 2006 cannot rest mechanically on an Enforcement Wing report without independent assessment and verification of the dealer's books of accounts; failure to follow that fair procedure vitiates the order.

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