TMI Blog2003 (1) TMI 728X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana impugning not only the search which had been carried out but also assailing the authority of the Assessing Officer to carry out the assessments. The High Court did not accept the submissions of the respondents in so far as they had challenged the validity of the search. The only issue on which the writ petition was allowed and the assessments made in favour of two of the respondents herein were quashed was that the Assessing Officer was the same Harinder Kumar who conducted the search. 3. The High Court invoked the principle that a person could not be a judge in his own cause to hold that the assessments could not have been carried out in respect of respondents Nos. 2 and 4. It said (p. 748) : ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the scheme of the Act, would amount to a limitation on the powers conferred statutorily on the Assessing Officer. The appellants contend that there is no structural bias in the sections of the Act and that in any event the appellants have not impugned any provision of the Act as being constitutionally invalid on the ground that it opposed the basic principles of natural justice. 6. In our view, this appeal must be allowed. The several sections which have been cited by the appellants would show that the Assessing Officer has, either directly or by virtue of his appointment or authorisation by a superior authority under the Act, been given the power of gathering information for the purposes of assessment. The mode of gathering such infor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... essing Officer was acting on behalf of the Revenue, in discharging the functions as an Assessing Officer, he was a party to the dispute, nevertheless there is no presumption of bias in such a situation. As said in H.C. Narayanappa v. State of Mysore, : It is also true that the Government on whom the duty to decide the dispute rests, is substantially a party to the dispute but if the Government or the authority to whom the power is delegated acts judicially in approving or modifying the scheme, the approval or modification is not open to challenge on a presumption of bias. The Minister or the officer of the Government who is invested with the power to hear objections to the scheme is acting in his official capacity and unless there is re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assessee. The Assessing Officer's decision on the basis of such material is not the final word in the matter. The assessment order is appealable under the provisions of the statute itself and ultimately by way of judicial review. 10. Finally, the courts cannot read in limitations to the jurisdiction conferred by the statutes, in the absence of a challenge to the provision itself when the language of the Act clearly allows for an ostensible violation of the principles of natural justice including the principle that a person cannot be a judge in his own cause. In Union of India v. Tulsiram Patel , in recognition of this principle this court held (page 1462 of AIR 1985 SC): Not only, therefore, can the principles of natural justice ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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