Court Upholds Assessment Order; No Natural Justice Violation Found, Encourages Appeal to Appellate Commissioner.

The HC dismissed the Writ Petitions challenging the Assessment Order dated 28.02.2023, finding no violation of principles of natural justice. The petitioner argued that the personal hearing was inadequate, but the court, after reviewing a video recording, determined that the hearing was conducted fairly. The court emphasized that the jurisdiction under Article 226 should not bypass the alternate remedy available before the Appellate Commissioner. The petitioner was granted the liberty to file a statutory appeal within thirty days.

---

---

Issues involved:
The issues involved in this case are the aggrievement by the petitioner regarding the Assessment Order, violation of principles of natural justice, and the adequacy of the personal hearing granted.

Assessment Order Challenge:
The petitioner challenged the Assessment Order dated 28.02.2023 and the consequential notice dated 19.04.2023, following a previous challenge to an Assessment Order dated 26.09.2022 for AY 2020-2021. The initial challenge was successful due to the lack of a personal hearing opportunity, leading to the order being set aside for a de novo assessment after a personal hearing.

Violation of Principles of Natural Justice:
The petitioner argued that the personal hearing granted resulted in a violation of principles of natural justice as it was allegedly conducted for only eight minutes through Video Conferencing. However, the respondent produced a video recording of the hearing, demonstrating that the petitioner's Chartered Accountant was heard patiently and allowed time for written submissions.

Jurisdiction and Alternate Remedy:
The Court noted that the jurisdiction under Article 226 cannot be invoked to circumvent the alternate remedy before the Appellate Commissioner. The impugned Assessment Order could only be interfered with if there was a violation of principles of natural justice, which was not substantiated based on the video recording of the personal hearing.

Decision:
Ultimately, the Court found that the arguments regarding the violation of principles of natural justice were unfounded, and therefore, the impugned Assessment Order did not warrant interference. The Writ Petitions were dismissed, with liberty granted to the petitioner to file a statutory appeal within thirty days.

---