TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (7) TMI 919
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....ention that the assessing officer is bound to provide a personal hearing, the learned counsel for the writ petitioner has placed reliance on a circular issued by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Chennai, the first respondent herein. The petitioner is a registered dealer under the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 and an assessee on the books of the second respondent. The place of the business was inspected by the enforcement officials on October 13, 2004. Following which, a notice dated November 17, 2006, was issued and another notice was also issued on March 30, 2007. Based on D3 report given by the enforcement officials, the assessing officer, issued a pre-assessment notice, dated March 30, 2007. On receipt of the abovesai....
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....the impugned demand. The learned counsel appearing for the Revenue has fairly submitted that the letter dated May 2, 2007 of the writ petitioner has been acknowledged and that the petitioner did not produce the particulars called for within the extended time and therefore, final orders were passed on July 30, 2007. The learned counsel for the respondents further submitted that the Division Bench decision relied on by the petitioner came to be passed only after the conclusion of the assessment and therefore, the same cannot be made applicable to the facts of this case. It is also his contention that inasmuch as the petitioner has failed to avail of the statutory remedy provided under section 3 of the TNGST Act, the writ petition is not ma....
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....n Bench of this court in a judgment reported in SRC Projects' case [2010] 33 VST 333; [2008-09] 14 TNCTJ 220, after extracting the relevant portion of the circular, which deals with an opportunity of personal hearing, at paragraph No. 26, of the judgment held that ". . . in cases where a dealer seeks for a personal hearing, such dealer should be afforded the same in all cases where the Commissioner proposes to record a finding, which is adverse to the dealer, and such adverse order to the assessee can only be made after giving the assessee a hearing". The Division Bench further held that ". . . the impugned order by way of revision of assessment should not have been passed without giving the assessee an opportunity of personal hearin....
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....ut law in this aspect is well-settled and there are well known exceptions where a writ petition is entertained despite non-exhaustion of statutory remedy. If any one of the exceptions exists, it is open to the writ court to exercise its jurisdiction. Those exceptions are if a writ petition has been filed for an enforcement of any fundamental right where there has been a violation of principles of natural justice at the instance of an inferior authority or where the proceedings are wholly without jurisdiction or ultra vires the statute under which such proceedings have been initiated (see Whirlpool Corporation v. Registrar of Trade Marks [1998] 8 SCC 1, at paragraphs 14 and 15, pages 9 and 10 of the report), a writ petition can be entertaine....