https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=160829 Retention of seized books of account and records beyond one year under section 66(1)(b) of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 requires recorded reasons, written sanction, and a real opportunity of hearing before continued deprivation of documents. The Tribunal noted that the hearing notice was served only after the retention period had expired, so the assessee could not object effectively, and the sanction was also not communicated within time. A retention order communicated after expiry had no legal existence, and the defect was substantive and not curable by a fresh proceeding after limitation. The sanction was therefore invalid, and release of the seized books, records, and documents was directed. en-us Fri, 22 Feb 2002 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 25 Dec 2013 13:05:39 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=160829 Retention of seized books of account and records beyond one year under section 66(1)(b) of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994 requires recorded reasons, written sanction, and a real opportunity of hearing before continued deprivation of documents. The Tribunal noted that the hearing notice was served only after the retention period had expired, so the assessee could not object effectively, and the sanction was also not communicated within time. A retention order communicated after expiry had no legal existence, and the defect was substantive and not curable by a fresh proceeding after limitation. The sanction was therefore invalid, and release of the seized books, records, and documents was directed. Case-Laws VAT and Sales Tax Fri, 22 Feb 2002 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=160829