Federal Bank Ltd. Vs Additional/Joint/Deputy/ACIT/ITO (Kerala High Court)
Kerala High Court held that passing of order without granting opportunity of being heard even if specifically requested by the assessee is against the principles of natural justice. Thus, the order is liable to be set aside.
Facts- The petitioner is a Banking Company licensed by the Reserve Bank of India under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The competent authority in the Income Tax Department passed a draft assessment order and issued a show cause notice dated 8.4.2021 to the petitioner as to why the assessment should not be completed as per the draft assessment order.
The petitioner submitted response on 13.4.2021. In the response, the petitioner had sought for a personal hearing through video conferencing. However, without giving an opportunity of personal hearing, respondent No.1 passed assessment order making an additional demand of Rs.321.26 Crores.
Conclusion- Held that the assessee specifically made request for a personal hearing, which has not been considered. Therefore, there has been violation of the principles of natural justice, and hence, the petitioner has rightly invoked the provisions of Article 226 of the Constitution. In my view, having regard to the facts and circumstances, the statutory authority was bound to afford a personal hearing to the petitioner through video conferencing as mentioned above. The result of this infraction would be that the impugned orders will have to be set aside.
