https://x.com/sekarreporter1/status/1728257846897463590?t=AYpq-L7_nQ-BzuTC6qdIKg&s=08 Actor prabu deva order judge krishnan Ramasamy Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 – Demand of tax and penalty and consequential order for attachment of bank account – uploading of notice on the online portal – Petitioner case no notice was issued and no opportunity of personal hearing was afforded before passing impugned orders – Violation of principles of natural justice –

Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 – Demand of tax and penalty and consequential order for attachment of bank account – uploading of notice on the online portal – Petitioner case no notice was issued and no opportunity of personal hearing was afforded before passing impugned orders – Violation of principles of natural justice – HELD – On perusal of the show cause notice dated 04.03.2023, which has culminated in the impugned order, it is seen that the respondent has called forth reply from the petitioner within 30 days and at the same time the petitioner was asked to appear for personal hearing on 17.03.2023, which is much prior to the date fixed for filing reply – the facts per se would show that the real intention of the Department is not to provide fair opportunity to the petitioner to defend their case but only to put the petitioner in peril – Had it been the real intention of the respondent to provide an fair opportunity of personal hearing to the petitioner then the respondent would have granted sufficient time to the petitioner to hear them in person and waited for the petitioner’s reply/objections. Whereas, the respondent-Department proceeded to confirm the proposals contained in the show cause notice, without waiting for reply to be filed by the petitioner – even the show cause notice was not served upon the petitioner directly by means of post or any other communication, whereas, the same was uploaded in the online Portal. All these would go to show that the opportunities, alleged to have been granted to the petitioner are not the real ones, but were the opportunities provided at nominal level and the same cannot be construed as fair opportunities. Therefore, the impugned order is in gross violation of principles of natural justice and set aside – the Writ Petition is allowed