Natural justice violated when a reply to show cause notice was ignored, leading to fresh consideration.

An assessment order may be set aside where the authority ignores a reply filed to the show cause notice and proceeds as if no objection was submitted. Failure to consider the reply before confirming the proposal constitutes denial of an effective hearing and a breach of natural justice. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration after giving the petitioner an opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether the assessment order was liable to be set aside for non-consideration of the petitioner's reply and consequent violation of natural justice.

Analysis: The reply filed in response to the show cause notice was available on record, but the impugned order proceeded as if no objection had been filed. The failure to consider the reply before confirming the proposal amounted to denial of an effective opportunity of hearing and breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after granting an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.

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