Remand compliance and fair hearing requirements governed the fresh tax assessment, leading to setting aside of consequential orders.

A subordinate authority acting on remand must strictly comply with the appellate directions and afford a fair opportunity to produce records and be heard before passing a consequential tax order. Here, the appellate authority had already treated the disputed goods as falling under Entry No. 102(2) of the IV Schedule and remanded only for verification of documents and turnover. The fresh assessment and penalty were nevertheless passed amid a serious dispute over service of the show cause notice and denial of objections. The consequential orders were set aside and fresh adjudication was directed after a fresh notice, reasonable time, and personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the consequential assessment and penalty orders could be sustained when the remand directions required verification of records and levy at 5% if the disputed goods fell under Entry No. 102(2) of the IV Schedule, and whether the petitioner was denied a reasonable opportunity before the fresh orders were passed.

Analysis: The appellate authority had already found that the disputed goods used by fruit pulp industries were not unclassified goods and fell under Entry No. 102(2) of the IV Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Value Added Tax Act, 2005, attracting tax at 5%, while remanding the matter only for verification of the documents and determination of actual turnover. In the post-remand proceedings, the assessment was completed on the basis that the petitioner had not responded, but there was a serious dispute regarding service of the show cause notice and the petitioner's opportunity to file objections. In these circumstances, the consequential orders did not properly implement the remand directions and the petitioner should not have been deprived of a fair chance to place records and be heard.

Conclusion: The consequential assessment and penalty orders could not be sustained and were set aside.

Final Conclusion: Fresh adjudication was directed after issuance of a fresh show cause notice, grant of reasonable time, and affording personal hearing, in accordance with the remand order of the appellate authority.

Ratio Decidendi: A subordinate authority acting on remand must strictly comply with the appellate directions and cannot finalize a consequential tax order without affording a fair and reasonable opportunity to produce the required records and be heard.

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