The High Court of Madras, set aside the impugned order and remanded the matter for fresh consideration after noting that the petitioner’s reply to the show cause notice lacked supporting documents due to their non-availability.

Kasturi,petitioner-assessee,received a show cause notice dated 26.11.2024 from the respondent and filed a reply on 03.12.2024. However, due to non-availability, the supporting documents could not be submitted along with the reply. The petitioner sought another opportunity to submit the reply with supporting documents.

In response, the respondent's counsel argued that sufficient opportunities had already been given, but the petitioner failed to provide the necessary documents. Consequently, the impugned order was passed, and the respondent sought dismissal of the writ petition.

Justice Krishnan Ramasamy heard both parties and noted that the petitioner had received a show cause notice on 26.11.2024 and filed a reply on 03.12.2024 without supporting documents due to their unavailability. The respondent passed the impugned order on 16.12.2024 without considering those documents.

The petitioner sought one more opportunity to file a complete reply. Considering the request, the Court set aside the impugned order dated 25.02.2025 and remanded the matter for fresh consideration, subject to a payment of ₹5,000 to a specified government hospital within two weeks.

The bench directed the petitioner to file a detailed reply with documents within three weeks and instructed the respondent to give 14 days’ notice for a personal hearing before passing a fresh order on merits. The writ petition was accordingly disposed of.

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