The Madras High Court, recently set aside an assessment order which was solely based on the data obtained from the Web Portal of the Commercial Taxes Department and reiterated that the assessing officer should conduct a reasonable enquiry before initiating proceedings against the assessee in such cases.
Before the High Court, the petitioners challenged the assessment order based on the mismatch found in the web report. They claimed that when the Assessing Authority finds a mismatch in such cases, he has to adopt a centralized mechanism exclusively to deal with the same. They further relied on a recent order of the Court dated 01.03.2017 wherein it was held that assessment cannot be reopened merely on ground of mismatch found in the VAT Department’s website.
Allowing the writ petition in the light of the observations made by the court in the above decision, the Court allowed the petition and directed the assessing Authority to re-consider the assessment after following the procedures/ directions issued by this Court in the above said batch of cases.
Read the full text of the Judgment below.
