AO to give list of judgments he wish to rely in taking adverse view against assessee.

Assessing Officer to give list of judgments he wish to rely in taking an adverse view against the assessee.

In a recent judgment, the Hon’ble Rajasthan High Court remanded the case and directed that if Assessing Officer is going to rely on any judicial pronouncement of any Court or Tribunal, a list of it shall be made available to assessee along with notice of personal hearing.

ABCAUS Case Law Citation:
4759 (2025) (09) abcaus.in HC

It is often seen that in direct or indirect tax cases, the Assessing Officer (AO) while passing a judgment, rely on a judgment but before that no opportunity is given to assessee to counter that judgment.

The instant judgment of the Rajasthan High Court may act as a guideline/pre-requisite for the Assessing Officers to inform the assessee of any judgment relied upon by him in taking an adverse view against the assessee.

In the instant case, a Writ Petition was filed by the assessee to challenge the impugned order passed by the GST officials alleging that findings were recorded against petitioner by relying on statements of three individuals without giving petitioner an opportunity to cross-examine these individuals despite specific requests.

The Hon’ble High Court quashed and set aside the impugned order and the matter was remanded for de novo consideration.

It was directed that the Assessing Officer shall deal with all submissions of petitioner   and pass a reasoned order after giving a personal hearing, notice whereof shall be   communicated at least seven working days in advance.

It was further directed that if Assessing Officer is going to rely on any judicial pronouncement of any Court or Tribunal, a list thereof shall be made available to petitioner along with notice of personal hearing. If the said pronouncement is unreported order or judgment, a copy thereof shall also be made available with notice for personal hearing.

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