Natural justice requires a real opportunity of hearing; notice served during lockdown restrictions was held ineffective, and assessment was set aside.

Service of notice during Covid-19 lockdown restrictions was not treated as an effective opportunity of hearing where the notice was delivered to a security guard at the taxpayer's office while staff were working from home and the area was under containment measures. The court held that, in those extraordinary circumstances, the taxpayer was denied a real chance to produce documents and be heard, so the assessment was set aside and a fresh opportunity of hearing was directed before reassessment.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was liable to be set aside for breach of natural justice on account of lack of effective opportunity of hearing after service of notice during the Covid-19 lockdown and containment restrictions.

Analysis: The notice was served on the security guard at the petitioner's Mumbai office when the State of Maharashtra was under lockdown and the relevant area was affected by containment restrictions. In the prevailing extraordinary circumstances, staff were working from home and the admitted technical service of notice could not be treated as effective service for the purpose of complying with the direction to afford a reasonable opportunity of hearing. The petitioner was placed at a disadvantage for reasons beyond its control, and the assessment was completed without a real opportunity to produce documents and be heard.

Conclusion: The assessment order was set aside and the petitioner was entitled to a fresh opportunity of hearing before reassessment.

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