Faceless Assessment: Officer must grant personal hearing on request of Assessee

Lemon Tree Hotels Limited Vs National Faceless Assessment Centre Delhi (Delhi High Court) Prima facie, once an assessee [i.e., the petitioner, in this case] requests for a personal hearing, the officer in-charge, under the provisions of clause (viii) of Section 144B(7) of the Act, would have to, ordinarily, grant a personal hearing. In any event, since Ms. Malhotra is not able to inform us as to whether steps under sub-clause (h) of Section 144B(7)(xii) of the Act have been taken by respondent no. 1, we are inclined, at least at this stage, to agree with the contentions advanced on behalf of t...