Personal hearing requirement under GST was breached, vitiating the assessment and requiring remand for fresh consideration.

Section 75(4) of the Tamil Nadu GST Act requires a personal hearing when requested before an adverse order is passed. The petitioner had asked for a hearing in its reply to the show cause notice, but the assessment order was issued without affording one. Because the order proceeded on adverse findings, including an objection that documents were not produced despite material already on record, the denial of hearing caused prejudice and vitiated the assessment. The order was therefore liable to be quashed and the matter remanded for fresh consideration after granting a personal hearing and considering the petitioner's documents.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was liable to be quashed for breach of the statutory requirement of granting a personal hearing under the GST law.

Analysis: Section 75(4) of the Tamil Nadu State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 requires a personal hearing where it is requested or where an adverse order is proposed. The petitioner had expressly sought a hearing in its reply to the show cause notice, yet the impugned order was passed without affording one. The assessment order also recorded adverse findings on the footing that supporting documents had not been produced, including on the trade payables issue where a substantial demand was confirmed despite the materials already on record. In these circumstances, the denial of hearing caused prejudice and vitiated the order.

Conclusion: The impugned assessment order was liable to be quashed and the matter was required to be sent back for fresh consideration after granting a personal hearing and considering the documents produced by the petitioner.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute mandates a personal hearing on request before an adverse order is passed, failure to grant that hearing vitiates the assessment and justifies remand for fresh decision after affording effective opportunity.

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