The Commissioner Of CT And GST, Odisha vs. Dharmajit Mishra
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This is an appeal before the High Court of Orissa at Cuttack. The appellants are the Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha, and another authority. The respondent is Dharamjit Mishra. The appeal concerns an impugned order passed by a Single Judge in a writ petition (W.P.(C) No.25699 of 2021). The appellants contended that the impugned order was passed on the first date of hearing without affording them an opportunity to file a reply to the writ petition. The High Court delinked this appeal from a connected case.
Held
The High Court held that the impugned order was passed on the very first date of the hearing without providing the appellants (Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha, and another) an opportunity to file a reply to the writ petition. This was considered a violation of the principles of natural justice. Consequently, the Court set aside the impugned order. The writ petition, W.P.(C) No.25699 of 2021, was restored to the file of the learned Single Judge. The appellants were directed to file their reply by 1st July 2023, and the respondent was to file a rejoinder by 10th July 2023. The learned Single Judge was requested to proceed with the hearing on merits and dispose of the matter expeditiously. No further opportunities for filing affidavits would be granted.
Key Issues
1. Whether the impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge was in violation of principles of natural justice, specifically the right to be heard, under the relevant provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure and the Constitution of India. Contentions: Petitioner/Appellant (Commissioner of CT & GST, Odisha): Argued that the impugned order was passed on the very first date of hearing without granting them an opportunity to file a reply to the writ petition, thus violating their right to be heard. They sought to have the order set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration. Revenue/State: The judgment does not record any specific arguments made by the revenue/state in response to the appeal, other than their participation through counsel.
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Cause title — parties, addresses and appearances
ORDER 23.03.2023 02. 1. The present appeal is delinked from the connected case as requested by learned counsel for the parties.
On the short ground that the impugned order was passed on the very first date of the hearing without any opportunity to the present Appellant to file a reply to the writ petition, the impugned order is set aside.
W.P.(C) No.25699 of 2021 will be restored to the file of the learned Single Judge in the roster Bench where it will be listed for hearing on 13th July, 2023. 4. Reply will be filed by the present Appellants to the writ petition positively on or before 1st July, 2023 and rejoinder affidavit thereto by 10th July, 2023. It is made clear that none of the parties will be granted any more opportunity for the above purpose.
The learned Single Judge is requested to proceed with the hearing of the matter on merits and dispose it of as expeditiously as possible.
The writ appeal is disposed of in the above terms. An urgent certified copy of this order be issued as per rules.
(Dr. S. Muralidhar) Chief Justice
(G. Satapathy) Judge
SK Jena/Secy.
Reproduced from the public record of the Orissa High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.