Natural justice and certificate verification bar adverse finding on vehicle use without proper enquiry and remand follows.

A supporting certificate for use of a Matador vehicle in electricity generation, transmission and distribution could not be rejected as unreliable without proper verification. The Tribunal had retained the penalty only for that vehicle, but the record indicated use for transporting material, maintaining distribution lines and substations, and attending complaints. Because no independent enquiry was undertaken and the matter was not remitted for verification, the adverse finding was unsupported and breached natural justice. The matter was therefore remanded to the Tribunal for a fresh enquiry into the correctness and reliability of the certificate.

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Issues: Whether the penalty sustained in respect of the Matador vehicle could stand when the assessee had produced a certificate supporting its use in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, and whether the Tribunal could reject that certificate without proper enquiry.

Analysis: The only surviving controversy concerned the Matador vehicle. The Tribunal had set aside the penalty for the other items but retained it for the Matador on the footing that the certificate was unreliable. The record showed that the certificate and the accompanying reply indicated use of the vehicle for transportation of material, maintenance of distribution lines and substations, and attending complaints. Before recording an adverse finding on the reliability of the certificate, the Tribunal was required to undertake an enquiry itself or remit the matter for verification. In the absence of such enquiry, the rejection of the certificate was unsupported and contrary to natural justice.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's finding on the Matador vehicle could not be sustained, and the matter had to be remanded for enquiry on the correctness and reliability of the certificate.

Final Conclusion: The revision succeeded only to the extent of setting aside the adverse finding relating to the Matador vehicle and directing a fresh enquiry before the Tribunal.

Ratio Decidendi: A finding that a supporting certificate is unreliable cannot be recorded without proper enquiry or verification, and an adverse conclusion reached without affording due opportunity is vitiated by breach of natural justice.

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