2018 (5) TMI 1611 - HC - VAT and Sales Tax

Principles of Natural Justice - it was alleged that the petitioner has not produced documents evidencing despatch of goods along with the Form-F declarations as provided for under Section 6A of the Act - Held that - In so far as the assessing authority has no case that the petitioner has not produced the Form-F declarations in respect of the transactions, when it was found that the petitioner has not produced the documents evidencing despatch of goods covered by the Form-F declarations, the assessing authority ought to have given an opportunity to the petitioner to produce the same, before completing the assessments on the basis that the petitioner has not produced the said documents. The writ petitions are vitiated for non-compliance of the principles of natural justice - the assessing authority is directed to complete the assessments of the petitioner afresh, after affording the petitioner an opportunity to produce the documents evidencing despatch of goods covered by the Form-F declarations produced by them - petition allowed by way of remand.

Summary

Issues:
Assessment under the Central Sales Tax Act for periods 2013-‘14, 2015-‘16, and 2016-‘17 based on Form-F declarations without supporting documents. Non-compliance with principles of natural justice in completing assessments without giving opportunity to produce required documents.

Analysis:

The petitioner, a registered dealer under the Central Sales Tax Act, received notices proposing assessments for certain periods due to non-furnishing of Form-F declarations supporting tax exemption claims. Despite submitting the Form-F declarations upon receiving pre-assessment notices, assessments were completed without considering documents proving goods dispatch as required by Section 6A of the Act. The petitioner challenged these assessment orders primarily on grounds of non-compliance with natural justice principles.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel argued that they possessed documents proving goods dispatch covered by the Form-F declarations and would have provided them if requested by the assessing authority. Since the assessing authority did not dispute the submission of Form-F declarations, the failure to request supporting dispatch documents before completing assessments was highlighted as a violation of natural justice principles.

The court acknowledged that while the petitioner submitted Form-F declarations, the assessing authority did not ask for documents proving goods dispatch mentioned in these declarations. Consequently, the court found merit in the petitioner's argument that completing assessments without requesting these documents violated principles of natural justice. Therefore, the court allowed the writ petitions, set aside the impugned orders, and directed the assessing authority to conduct fresh assessments, providing the petitioner with an opportunity to produce the necessary dispatch documents along with the Form-F declarations.