The Bombay High Court restored the Application Form SVLDRS-1 as no personal hearing was granted.
The petitioner, Sunil Jay Prakash Singh seeks a writ of certiorari for quashing and setting aside the rejection Order rejecting Form SVLDRS-1 and also seeks writ of mandamus directing the Respondents to accept the application Form SVLDRS-1 filed by the Petitioner and to issue discharge certificate. The Petitioner also seeks an opportunity to put forth his case/submissions and for a direction that a reasoned Order be passed thereafter.
The issue raised was whether the tax liabilities are already quantified or not as on 30th June 2019 itself is a matter of dispute raised by the Petitioner in Writ Petition and also in the application/declaration filed under the said Scheme by the Petitioner before the Authorities. If according to the Respondents the tax liabilities were not quantified and the Petitioner was not eligible, the Respondents ought to have given an opportunity of being heard to the Petitioner before passing such Order rejecting the application made by the Petitioner on the ground of ineligibility. If the Petitioner would have been given an opportunity, the Petitioner would have pointed out the quantification of tax liability during the course of the hearing. In our view, personal hearing was necessary in this situation.
The division bench of Justice S.M.Modak and Justice R.D.Dhanuka held that the impugned Orders passed by the Respondents are in gross violation of the principles of natural justice and are liable to be quashed and set-aside.
The court directed the Respondent to consider those two applications on its own merits in accordance with law after granting personal hearing to the Petitioner and pass a fresh Order without being influenced by the observations made and the conclusions drawn in the impugned Orders.
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