Personal hearing under GST natural justice requires a real opportunity before assessment orders are sustained.

Denial of a personal hearing under Section 75(4) of the GST Act vitiated the assessment orders where the petitioner's authorised representative attended on the fixed date, sought another hearing and the request was recorded in the attendance register. The HC found it unnecessary to decide conclusively whether the assessing authority was physically present, because the undisputed position was that a further hearing was requested and not granted. The assessments were therefore held to breach the requirement of personal hearing and the principles of natural justice, and were set aside with remand for fresh consideration after affording a hearing to the petitioner.

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Issues: Whether the assessment orders were liable to be set aside for denial of a personal hearing under Section 75(4) of the GST Act and the matter remanded for fresh decision.

Analysis: The dispute turned on whether the petitioner's authorised representative had been afforded the personal hearing fixed on 11.08.2025. The record showed that the representative attended the office, sought another hearing and recorded that request in the attendance register. The Court found it unnecessary to determine conclusively whether the assessing authority was physically present, because the undisputed position was that a further personal hearing had been requested and was not granted. In these circumstances, the impugned assessments were found to suffer from a breach of the requirement of personal hearing and, consequently, from violation of the principles of natural justice.

Conclusion: The assessment orders were set aside and the matters were remanded to the assessing authority for fresh consideration after granting an opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner.

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