TAKSHILA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY Vs. ASSESSMENT UNIT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is aggrieved with the assessment order dtd. 22/3/2024, passed without affording an opportunity of hearing. There is an appeal provided from the order, which has not been availed of.

(2.) The learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner only seeks for a remand so that an opportunity be afforded for a proper hearing. The learned Senior Counsel would also rely on a Full Bench decision of this Court in Commissioner of Wealth-Tax Vs. Sri Jagdish Prasad Choudhary, (1995) 211 ITR 472X (Pat). Therein, the specific provision on which the dictum was laid was Sec. 18 (2) of the Wealth Tax Act, which reads as under:

(3.) It was held by the Full Bench that the word 'heard' occurring in Sec. 18(2) of the Act means to be heard 'orally' and not a mere consideration of the case as made out in the written representation. Incidentally, it was also examined whether such an oral hearing can be given only on the request of the person concerned or whether under the scheme of the Act, there is an implied obligation of the concerned authority to offer an opportunity of oral hearing. It was found on the scheme of the Wealth Tax Act, specifically sub-Sec. (2) of Sec. 18 that even without a request there is an implied obligation on the authority.