Prior administrative approval for reassessment does not require pre-decisional hearing where the statute provides hearing later.

Prior permission for reassessment under the Punjab VAT Act was treated as a purely administrative approval, not a quasi-judicial determination requiring a pre-decisional hearing. The statutory scheme contemplated that the designated officer would seek the Commissioner's approval first and then give the dealer an opportunity of hearing at the assessment-amendment stage. In light of the statutory language and the earlier decision upholding the provision, the absence of a prior personal hearing before the Commissioner did not invalidate the sanction. The challenge to the permission order therefore failed, and the Tribunal was correct to confine its review to the validity of that approval.

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Issues: Whether prior permission granted by the Commissioner for reassessment under Section 29(7) of the Punjab VAT Act, 2005 was invalid for want of a prior hearing to the assessee.

Analysis: The challenged sanction was held to be only a prior administrative approval and not a quasi-judicial determination. The statutory scheme contemplated that the designated officer, after obtaining permission from the Commissioner, would proceed with amendment of the assessment and provide the dealer an opportunity of hearing at that stage. In view of the statutory language and the earlier decision upholding the provision, no prior personal hearing was required before the Commissioner granted approval. The Tribunal had therefore correctly confined itself to the validity of the permission order and rightly rejected the challenge.

Conclusion: The prior permission for reassessment was valid, and the challenge based on absence of pre-decisional hearing failed.

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