Failure to consider assessee replies vitiates assessment order and requires fresh adjudication

An assessment order was held unsustainable where the revenue authority failed to consider the assessee's replies already filed before the final show-cause notice. The Gujarat HC noted that replies uploaded during reassessment and faceless assessment proceedings were on record, yet the impugned order made a substantial addition without dealing with that material. Because the omission to examine those replies went to the validity of the decision-making process, the order was quashed and the matter remitted for fresh de novo adjudication after proper consideration of the assessee's submissions.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was liable to be quashed for failure to consider the assessee's replies filed before the final show-cause notice and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The assessment proceedings were conducted under the reassessment and faceless assessment framework. The record showed that the assessee had uploaded replies on 13.02.2024 and 21.02.2024 in response to notices issued during the assessment proceedings, but the impugned order did not deal with those replies. The order proceeded to make a large addition without reflecting consideration of the material already placed on record. In these circumstances, the omission to examine the replies filed prior to the final show-cause notice rendered the assessment unsustainable, and a fresh decision was necessary after taking those replies into account.

Conclusion: The assessment order was quashed and the matter was remitted for fresh de novo adjudication after considering the replies already filed by the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: An assessment order is vitiated where material replies already filed by the assessee are ignored and are not considered before making the addition, and such an order may be set aside with a direction for fresh adjudication.

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