Natural justice in import adjudication requires disclosure of adverse material and consideration of relevant representation before confiscation is sustained.

An adjudication cannot stand where the importer's representation and relevant precedent were not considered, and where an adverse departmental letter materially affecting confiscation was relied on without being supplied to the importer. The failure to give access to the adverse material and to examine the prior no-objection letter also violated natural justice. The impugned order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded to the original authority for fresh adjudication after giving the importer a reasonable opportunity to adduce evidence and be heard.

---

---

Issues: Whether the order releasing the imported goods could be sustained when the original adjudication did not consider the importer's representation, the cited High Court judgment, and relied upon an adverse departmental letter not supplied to the importer, and whether the matter required remand for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The record showed that the representation dated 07.03.2012 was not considered by the adjudicating authority despite the High Court's direction. The authority also did not examine the cited judgment concerning release of similar goods without a no-objection certificate. Further, the adverse letter from the Deputy Drugs Controller, which materially influenced the confiscation order, was not supplied to the importer. The availability of a prior letter granting no-objection in a similar case also remained outside the original adjudication. These defects affected the fairness of the decision-making process and warranted reconsideration after giving the importer a reasonable opportunity to adduce evidence and be heard.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the original authority for fresh adjudication.

Final Conclusion: The dispute was not finally decided on the merits of importability or release, but was sent back for a fresh, reasoned adjudication after observance of natural justice.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication based on undisclosed adverse material and without consideration of relevant representation and binding precedent cannot stand, and such a matter must be remanded for fresh decision after due hearing.

---