Natural justice under Sabka Vishwas Scheme requires Form SVLDRS-2 and hearing before final liability is fixed.

Where the Designated Committee disputed the amount declared under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, it was required to first issue Form SVLDRS-2 and grant a personal hearing before finalising the liability under Form SVLDRS-3. Issuing Form SVLDRS-3 straightaway, without that statutory estimate and hearing, breached Rule 6 read with section 127 of the Scheme and violated natural justice. The Bombay High Court held that the final statement and the consequential show cause notice could not stand, and the matter had to be remanded to the Committee for fresh consideration after hearing the declarant.

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Issues: Whether the Designated Committee could issue Form SVLDRS-3 without first issuing Form SVLDRS-2 and affording the declarant an opportunity of personal hearing, and whether the impugned Form SVLDRS-3 and show cause notice were liable to be quashed with a remand to the Committee.

Analysis: Section 127 of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, read with Rule 6 of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme) Rules, 2019, requires the Designated Committee, where it does not accept the amount declared by the declarant, to first issue an estimate in Form SVLDRS-2 and then grant an opportunity of personal hearing before issuing the final statement. The record showed a dispute regarding the amount payable, yet Form SVLDRS-2 was not issued and Form SVLDRS-3 was issued straightaway. That course deprived the declarant of the statutory opportunity of hearing and violated the principles of natural justice. In those circumstances, the show cause notice issued thereafter could not survive.

Conclusion: The issuance of Form SVLDRS-3 without first issuing Form SVLDRS-2 and granting a personal hearing was invalid, and the impugned Form SVLDRS-3 and show cause notice were liable to be quashed with the matter remanded to the Designated Committee for fresh consideration after hearing the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded to the extent that the impugned determination was set aside and the matter was sent back for reconsideration in accordance with the statutory scheme and fair hearing requirements.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the Designated Committee disputes the declared amount under the Sabka Vishwas Scheme, it must first issue the statutory estimate and afford a personal hearing before finalising the liability; bypassing that procedure renders the final statement unsustainable.

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