Writ petition against cost assessment order and penalty was allowed as orders passed ex-parte violated natural justice and guidelines, remitting matter for fresh assessment.
Orders dated 9.5.2017 and 5.9.2019 set aside and matter remitted for fresh assessment after hearing petitioner and following procedure.
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Court No. - 41 Case :- WRIT - C No. - 6817 of 2020 Petitioner :- Sanjeet Kumar Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Jamal Ahmad Khan Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Siddhartha Varma,J.
The delay has been been satisfactorily explained in paragraph 28 of the petition and it is, accordingly condoned.
This writ petition has been filed against the order dated 9.5.2017 by which the cost of the construction has been assessed and a cess of Rs.7,74,995/- has been imposed and and against the order dated 5.9.2019 by which the penalty of Rs.2,32,499/- has been imposed.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the orders were passed ex-parte and the petitioner was not given any opportunity to place his case.
Learned Standing Counsel, however, submits that when there was an assessment then the imposition of the cess and the penalty had to be made.
Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel, I am of the view that the assessment of the cost of construction as has been done by the order dated 9.5.2017 had erroneously been done as firstly; the petitioner was not heard and secondly; the guidelines as have been provided in the Government Order dated 3.2.2014 had not been followed.
Under such circumstances, the orders dated 9.5.2017 and 5.9.2019 are set-aside. The matter is remitted back to the respondent no.2 for a fresh assessment. The respondent no.2 shall now, after hearing the petitioner and after following the procedure prescribed under the Government Order dated 3.2.2014, come to a proper conclusion with regard to the cost of the building etc. This exercise shall be completed within a period of one month from the date of presentation of a certified copy of this order.
The writ petition is, accordingly, allowed.
Order Date :- 27.2.2020 PK
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the writ petition challenging imposed cess and penalty is warranted.
Sanjeet Kumar Singh
State Of U.P.
Siddhartha Varma
As recorded by the court registry
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