In case of violation of principles of natural justice, the availability of appellate remedy does not bar maintainability of writ petition

Jindal Realty Limited Vs National Faceless Assessment Centre (Delhi High Court)

In the present case, as no prior show cause notice as well as draft assessment order had been issued, there is a violation of principle of natural justice as well as mandatory procedure prescribed under ‘Faceless Assessment Scheme’ and as stipulated in Section 144B of the Act.

It is a settled law that when there is a violation of principles of natural justice, the availability of an appellate remedy does not operate as a bar to the maintainability of the writ petition.

Keeping in view the aforesaid, the impugned assessment order issued under Section 147 read with Section 144B, demand notice under Section 156 and penalty proceedings initiated under Section 271(1)(c) of the Act, all dated 19^th March, 2022 are set aside and the matter is remanded back to the Assessing Officer, who shall issue a show cause notice as well as draft assessment order to the petitioner and thereafter pass a reasoned order in accordance with law.

FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF DELHI HIGH COURT

Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.