Natural justice: failure to afford feasible personal hearing vitiates GST assessment; matter remanded for fresh consideration after hearing.

Assessment orders under the GST assessment provision were found to have been passed without affording a feasible personal hearing, engaging the rule of natural justice; consequently the orders were set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration. The court emphasised that where in person replies were made and a personal hearing was practicable, failure to provide such hearing vitiates the assessment and requires reconsideration on merits. The remand directs the tax authority to permit filing of reply/objection within two weeks and to issue a clear 14 day notice fixing a date for personal hearing before passing fresh orders.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders dated 08.01.2024 and 29.04.2024, passed under Section 74 of the TNGST/CGST Act, 2017, without affording the petitioner a personal hearing and relying on absence of portal filing, are violative of principles of natural justice and liable to be set aside and remanded for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The Court examined the procedural record and the submissions that show cause notices were uploaded on the GST portal and the petitioner had filed replies in person but did not upload them to the portal. The respondents conceded that no personal hearing was afforded prior to passing the impugned assessment orders. The Court applied the principle that an assessment order passed without giving an opportunity of personal hearing where one was feasible engages principles of natural justice. Given the admitted absence of personal hearing and the factual matrix of in-person replies, the Court found the orders to be vitiated for want of compliance with natural justice and requiring reconsideration on merits after affording opportunity of hearing.

Conclusion: The impugned orders dated 08.01.2024 and 29.04.2024 are set aside and the matter is remanded to the 2nd respondent for fresh consideration with directions to permit the petitioner to file reply/objection within two weeks and to issue a 14 days clear notice fixing the date of personal hearing before passing appropriate orders on merits.

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