Natural justice requires notice, participation, and disclosure before expert material is used in adjudication.

Adjudication based on expert measurements taken without prior notice to the affected party and without supplying the inspection report before decision violates natural justice. The assessee was deprived of an effective opportunity to participate in the measurement process and to meet the material relied upon against it. The impugned order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication after notice, participation in the expert inspection, supply of the report, and a hearing.

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Issues: Whether the order determining the assessee's ACP was vitiated for breach of natural justice because the assessee was not given notice before the expert measurement and was not supplied a copy of the expert report before the order was passed.

Analysis: The assessee was not informed before the expert team visited the factory for measurement of the relevant dimension, and the report of that inspection was not supplied before adjudication. The procedural lapse deprived the assessee of an effective opportunity to participate in the measurement process and meet the material relied upon against it. This constituted a prima facie violation of natural justice.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication after notice, participation in the expert inspection, supply of the report, and hearing of the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication based on expert material gathered without prior notice to the affected party and without supplying the resulting report violates the principles of natural justice and cannot stand.

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