Case Law Details
Atlas Jewellery (P) Ltd Vs Deputy Commissioner (Kerala High Court)
Tax Assessment: Orders passed while the Managing Director was detained in a foreign nation are unsustainable – Violation of principles of natural justice: High Court of Kerala.
It is proclaimed in Atlas Jewellery [P] Ltd Vs. The Deputy Commissioner & Ors (W.P.(C) No. 21798 of 2021, Dt: 08.11.2021) that the principle of natural justice has twin ingredients, firstly opportunity to show cause and of being heard should be given, it must be a real opportunity and not an unreal one, the right to a fair hearing is essential and secondly, the orders passed by the authorities should give reasons for arriving at any conclusion showing a proper application of mind.
Facts of the case
The petitioner is a private limited company, engaged in the manufacture and export of gold and other jewellery, which had three Directors, of which the Managing Director was the person in charge, along with his wife. The third Director was an employee, who acted as a silent Director. The Managing Director of the company was sentenced to imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) and was in jail from 15.11.2015 till 22.05.2018. Petitioner also contends that the wife of the Managing Director was also residing in Dubai during the said period and that she could not move out of the UAE and come to India. According to the petitioner company, pursuant to the arrest of its Managing Director, its business activities in Kerala fell into ruin and before long his shops were closed and the entire staff left the company. While so, the assessing officer has passed assessment orders under the Kerala Value Added Tax Act,2003 pertaining to the years 2014-15 and 2015-16 after issuing notices to which they sought adjournment or being unserved. The grievance of the petitioner is that they were deprived of a reasonable or sufficient opportunity to contest the case in the process of said assessments. On writ petition being filed.
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