Natural justice in assessment proceedings permits writ interference when a hearing is denied despite an alternate remedy.

An assessment order passed without affording the assessee a proper opportunity of hearing was treated as contrary to natural justice and vulnerable to interference in writ jurisdiction. The existence of an alternate appeal remedy did not bar relief where the order was made in undue haste and without evidence of a meaningful hearing. The matter was therefore required to be reconsidered afresh after giving the assessee a proper opportunity to present its case, and the authority had to decide the assessment in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was liable to be set aside for having been passed without granting the assessee a proper opportunity of hearing, and whether fresh assessment was required after affording such hearing.

Analysis: The order was found to have been passed in undue haste and without reflecting that any hearing had been granted. In assessment proceedings, adherence to the rule of law requires that the assessee be given a proper opportunity before liability is fastened. The existence of an appealable order did not prevent interference where the order was made in breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The order was set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after giving the assessee a proper opportunity of hearing.

Final Conclusion: The assessment could not stand in the absence of compliance with natural justice, and the authority was directed to decide the matter afresh in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment order passed without affording a proper opportunity of hearing, in breach of natural justice, is liable to be interfered with in writ jurisdiction notwithstanding the availability of an alternate remedy.

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