In a recent case, the Kerala High Court quashed the assessment order under Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 ( KVAT ) passed without providing opportunity of hearing.The court restored the assessment of the petitioner under the KVAT Act for the year 2012-13 to the file of the 1st respondent or other competent authority.
Mathew Kurian,the petitioner writ petition has filed a challenging order of assessment for the assessment year 2012-13 under the provisions of the Kerala Value Added Tax Act, 2003 (‘KVAT Act’). The counsel appeared for the petitioner and submitted that the order is liable to be set aside on a short ground. It was submitted that a reading of order itself shows that the assessment was completed without affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.
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It was submitted that the petitioner is willing to give up any objection to the completion of assessment on the ground of limitation, provided the petitioner is given a chance to prove his case before the 1st respondent.
A single bench Justice Gopinath P set aside the order with a direction to the 1st respondent to pass fresh orders, after affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and also after affording an opportunity to the petitioner to produce such records as he may wish to rely upon before the 1st respondent.
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The court restored the assessment of the petitioner under the KVAT Act for the year 2012-13 to the file of the 1st respondent or other competent authority, who shall pass fresh orders, after affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and after permitting the petitioner to file any documents that he may wish to produce.
Considering the submission of the counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner will not take any objection to the completion of assessment on the ground of limitation, it is hereby declared that it will be open to the 1st respondent to complete the proceedings, as directed above, even if the proceedings are by now barred by limitation.
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