Mohan Choudary Seancha vs. The Assistant Commissioner (St)

Facts

The petitioner, Mohan Choudary Seancha, filed a review application seeking to recall an order dated 02.01.2025 passed in Writ Petition No. 28511 of 2024. The original writ petition challenged certain notifications that extended limitation periods and also contended that the show-cause notice and assessment orders were unsigned. The Division Bench, in its previous order, upheld the notifications extending limitation and relegated the petitioners to avail the remedy of appeal. However, during the hearing of the review application, the parties reached a consensus. The respondents agreed that the issue of unsigned show-cause notices and assessment orders had been finally decided by this Court in WP.No.21101 of 2024 and batch.

Held

The Court, in view of the consensus arrived at between the parties, modified the order under review. The primary finding was that the issue concerning unsigned show-cause notices and impugned assessment orders had been finally decided in WP.No.21101 of 2024 and batch. Consequently, the Court held that there was no point in relegating the petitioner to the remedy of appeal on this ground. The order under review was modified to the extent that the unsigned show-cause notice and impugned orders were set aside. The respondents were granted liberty to issue fresh show-cause notices in accordance with law and proceed further. Other conditions mentioned in the order passed in WP.No.21101 of 2024 and batch were to apply mutatis mutandis. The ratio decidendi is that where a specific issue has been finally decided by the High Court in a batch of cases, subsequent review applications raising the same issue should be decided in line with that precedent, and parties should not be relegated to alternative remedies on such settled points.

Key Issues

1. Whether the order dated 02.01.2025 passed in Writ Petition No. 28511 of 2024 should be reviewed and recalled. The petitioner argued that the original writ petition had grounds concerning unsigned show-cause notices and assessment orders, which were not adequately addressed in the previous order that focused on limitation extensions. The petitioner sought to have these issues heard. The revenue/State respondents, while not explicitly detailing their arguments on the review itself, agreed to a consensus regarding the unsigned notices and orders, acknowledging a prior decision on this matter. They relied on the common order passed in WP.No.21101 of 2024 and batch.