Natural justice requires the final decision-maker to give the mandated personal hearing before disposing of an appeal.

Where a personal hearing is mandated by law or judicial direction, the authority that finally decides the matter must itself hear the affected party or provide a fresh hearing before disposing of the appeal. A prior hearing before other officers does not cure the defect if the final order is passed by a successor who did not hear the party, because internal file consideration cannot substitute for a meaningful hearing. The principle that the authority which hears should decide is a facet of natural justice, and non-compliance renders the hearing an empty formality and prejudices the affected party.

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Issues: Whether the appellate order was vitiated because the officer who finally decided the appeal had not heard the respondent in person, despite a prior judicial direction requiring personal hearing, thereby violating the principles of natural justice.

Analysis: The prior judicial mandate required a real and effective personal hearing before disposal of the appeal. The record showed that two different officers heard the respondent on earlier dates, but neither passed the final order, which was instead made by a different officer who had not heard the respondent. In such a situation, the mere availability of notes or the appearance of consideration cannot substitute for the deciding authority's direct hearing of the affected party. The rule that the authority who hears should decide is a facet of natural justice, and it assumes added force where the court has specifically directed personal hearing. A decision by a successor who has not heard the matter, without a fresh hearing, renders the hearing an empty formality and causes prejudice.

Conclusion: The appellate order was invalid for breach of natural justice and non-compliance with the direction to afford personal hearing. The challenge to the quashing of that order failed.

Final Conclusion: The decision affirms that a mandated personal hearing must be meaningful and must be before the authority that finally decides the matter; a contrary procedure cannot cure the defect by internal file consideration or by relying on a predecessor's hearing.

Ratio Decidendi: Where personal hearing is required by law or by judicial direction, the authority that finally determines the matter must itself hear the affected party or afford a fresh hearing before deciding; a successor who did not hear the party cannot validly pass the final order on the basis of prior hearings by others.

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