KRISHNA CHANDRA BISWA Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition is directed against the assessment order, dated 28.09.2012 and the demand notices issued thereafter. Normally, we would not have entertained a petition against an assessment order without the assessee having approached the appellate authority but since the appeal was already been admitted we propose to decide this petition.

(2.) THE grievance of the assessee is twofold. His first grievance is that the assessing officer has relied upon a DTR report and the attention of the assessee was never drawn to this DTR report. His second contention is that penalty has been imposed without issuing notice as contemplated under the Section 31(5) of the Tripura Value Added Tax Act, 2004.

(3.) THE Apex Court went on to hold that if the sales tax officer is in possession of the material which he proposes to use against the dealer in proceedings for assessment, the said officer must before using that material bring it to the notice of the dealer. In the present case we find that three notices were issued to the dealer but he did not appear before the assessing officer. The receipt of the last notice has also been placed on record which shows that the notice was dispatched on 31st July 2012 within Agartala itself and the next date of hearing was 25th August, 2012. The notices were properly addressed and, therefore, we can draw a legal presumption that notices must have been served upon the assessee.