Non-delegable audit power under Tamil Nadu VAT law requires Commissioner's own satisfaction, notice, hearing, and reasons.

Section 64(4) of the Tamil Nadu VAT Act requires the Commissioner to personally apply mind before ordering an audit of a registered dealer's business, and that decision cannot be delegated to a lower authority. Because the audit direction has civil consequences and may be used in assessment proceedings, it is treated as a quasi-judicial power, not a mere administrative act. The Commissioner must therefore issue notice, afford an opportunity of hearing, and record reasons in a speaking order. Any purported delegation of this decision-making function is not authorised by the statutory scheme and is unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether, in proceedings under Section 64(4) of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act, the Commissioner alone must form the requisite satisfaction and pass the audit order, and whether such power can be delegated to a lower authority.

Analysis: Section 64(4) empowers the Commissioner to order audit of a registered dealer's business by an officer not below the prescribed rank. The provision contemplates an individualised exercise of power based on the Commissioner's own application of mind to the dealer's default or other statutory criteria. The order is not administrative in nature but quasi-judicial, because it entails civil consequences and can be used against the assessee in assessment proceedings. For that reason, prior notice, opportunity of hearing, and a speaking and reasoned order are required. The statutory scheme does not authorise the Commissioner to delegate this decision-making function further to a lower authority.

Conclusion: The Commissioner cannot delegate the power under Section 64(4) to a lower authority, and the impugned direction permitting such delegation was unsustainable. The appellant succeeded on this issue.

Ratio Decidendi: An order under Section 64(4) of the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax Act is a quasi-judicial, non-delegable statutory power that must be exercised by the Commissioner himself after notice, hearing, and recording of reasons.

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