Natural justice requires notice before relying on additional evidence to allow Modvat credit, with remand ordered for rehearing.

Modvat credit allowed on the basis of additional documents could not stand where the Commissioner (Appeals) accepted fresh material without notice to the Department or verification from the field office. The prior denial of credit rested on incomplete invoice particulars and mismatches in quantity and duty details under Rule 57GG, but the decisive defect was the denial of a fair hearing when new evidence was relied upon. A quasi-judicial order founded on additional evidence requires the opposing party to be given an opportunity to examine and meet that material. The order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration after hearing both sides.

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Issues: Whether the order of the Commissioner (Appeals) allowing Modvat credit on the basis of additional documents, without notice to the Department or opportunity to verify those documents, was liable to be set aside for violation of natural justice.

Analysis: The adjudicating authority had denied Modvat credit on the ground that the invoices lacked complete particulars required under Rule 57GG and that certain quantity and duty details did not tally. The Commissioner (Appeals) accepted additional documents produced by the respondents and allowed credit without issuing notice to the Department or calling for verification of the documents from the concerned field office. Such acceptance of fresh material without affording the opposite side an opportunity to examine or rebut it amounted to denial of a fair hearing.

Conclusion: The order of the Commissioner (Appeals) was rightly set aside and the matter was remanded for fresh examination after hearing both sides.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded, and the dispute was sent back for reconsideration on the additional material after due hearing to both parties.

Ratio Decidendi: A quasi-judicial order based on additional evidence cannot be sustained unless the opposing party is given an opportunity to verify and meet that evidence.

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