Personal hearing under customs adjudication is mandatory absent waiver; failure to grant it vitiates the order and requires remand.

Section 124 of the Customs Act requires a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing before adjudication unless that right is clearly waived. Where the appellant sought time to reply and the record showed no waiver, failure to grant a personal hearing amounted to breach of natural justice and non-compliance with the statutory requirement. The adjudication order was therefore invalid, the prior orders were annulled, and the matter was remitted for fresh adjudication after affording a personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication order was vitiated for denial of a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing under Section 124 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Analysis: The appellant had sought extension of time to reply to the show cause notice and there was no material to show that the right to personal hearing had been waived. Section 124 requires that, unless waived, the person concerned must be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before an adjudication order is passed. The absence of such hearing amounted to breach of natural justice and violation of the statutory requirement.

Conclusion: The adjudication was invalid for want of personal hearing, and the order was liable to be set aside with remand for fresh adjudication after affording a reasonable opportunity to be heard in person.

Final Conclusion: The matter was remitted for fresh decision after compliance with the hearing requirement, and the prior orders stood annulled.

Ratio Decidendi: Where personal hearing is statutorily required before adjudication, failure to afford it in the absence of a clear waiver vitiates the order for breach of natural justice.

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