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2014 (11) TMI 837 - GUJARAT HIGH COURTCancellation of Registration - Exercising power of revision under Section 75 read with Section 100 of the Gujarat VAT Act - violation of principle of natural justice - illegal acts and omissions by a trader - Held that:- Principles of natural justice are not empty formalities. They are required to put a person likely to be visited with adverse order to notice why a proposed action not be taken for prima facie grounds indicated in the notice. When the very notice suggested exercise of powers under Section 75 which was for taking the order of subordinate officer under revision for appropriate reasons to be recorded, it would be in gross violation of principle of natural justice then to permit the authority to pass final order under entirely different provision which clothed the authority with vastly different powers. The error committed by the Deputy Commissioner does not end here. He, in fact, passed his final order under purported exercise of power under Section 75. Even while passing of the order he was not aware that the registration should or could be cancelled under Section 27(5) of the VAT Act and not be revised under Section 75 thereof. the order cannot be viewed as mere reference to a wrong statutory provision tracing the power of cancellation. It was rather a situation where the authority passed an order assuming jurisdiction under a wrong provision exercising powers of entirely different nature which powers were not available to him for revising the order of registration. Such order cannot be saved or cured by an affidavit suggesting that he intended to pass the order under Section 27(5) and there was a mere wrong reference to Section 75 read with Section 100 of the VAT Act. - all petitions allowed - Decided in favor of assessee.
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