Kerala High Court Quashes Assessment Order Issued Without Effective Hearing Due To Technical Issues With Link Provided For Video Conferencing

Allowing the writ petition, Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh held that the impugned assessment order was issued contrary to the principles of natural justice since there was no effective hearing. The bench said:

“Considering the above submissions and taking note of the fact that the petitioner was not given effective hearing and without providing the effective hearing the impugned assessment order has been passed, I am of the considered view that the order suffers from violation of the principles of natural justice and, therefore, the same is set aside.

The petitioner being an assessee under the Income Tax Act did not file his return of the income for the assessment year 2016-17. Show cause notices were issued to the petitioner and he filed a reply to the show cause notice opting for a personal hearing through video conferencing.

It was stated that the petitioner could not join using the link provided for video conferencing due to a technical failure on the part of the Income Tax Department. The petitioner emailed his grievance that he was unable to log in for the video conferencing. Without considering the above aspects, an assessment order was passed without giving him another hearing opportunity.

Thus, the Petitioner approached the High Court seeking to set aside the Assessment Order issued under Section 147 read with Sections 144 and 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The petitioner contended that opportunity of hearing means an 'effective opportunity of hearing'. It was argued that the petitioner could not log in to the personal hearing through video conferencing due to the technical failure in the hearing itself and thus it would amount to 'no hearing at all'. It was further argued that the assessment order was illegal since there was a failure to comply with the statutory provisions that mandate hearing opportunity and in violation of the principles of natural justice.

The Court noted that the assessment order was passed without providing an opportunity for an effective hearing to the petitioner. It thus set aside the assessment order due to a violation of the principles of natural justice.

The Court also directed the Assessment Unit of the Income Tax Department to provide a fresh link to the petitioner for a personal hearing to finalize the assessment order.

Counsel for Petitioner: Senior Advocate R V Easwar, Advocates Sidharth A Menon, Muhammed Aljuq A, Rubal Bansal Maini, Prakhar Pandey and Sandra Mariya

Counsel for Respondents: Standing Counsels Christopher Abraham, Keerthivas Giri, P G Jayashankar

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 245

Case title: Leric Reeches v Income Tax Officer

Case number: WP(C) NO. 14409 OF 2024

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