Natural justice in excise adjudication requires supply of relied upon documents and a meaningful opportunity to respond.

Fair adjudication under the Central Excise Rules required prior supply of relied upon documents, return of seized records not proposed to be used, disclosure of investigation material and sample reports, and an effective opportunity to reply. The Tribunal found that the appellant had repeatedly sought these materials but the department had not furnished the complete set, while the adjudicating authority proceeded ex parte without ensuring disclosure of the material relied upon in the show cause notice. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded for de novo adjudication after compliance with the directions on document supply and hearing.

---

---

Issues: Whether the adjudication order was vitiated for violation of principles of natural justice on account of non-supply of relied upon documents and non-compliance with Rule 24A of the Central Excise Rules, 2004, warranting remand for fresh adjudication.

Analysis: The record showed that the appellant had repeatedly sought copies of relied upon documents, return of seized records not proposed to be relied upon, and access to investigation material, but the department had not furnished the complete set of documents. The adjudicating authority also proceeded ex parte without ensuring disclosure of material relied upon in the show cause notice. In these circumstances, the Tribunal held that the appellant could not be treated as delaying the proceedings and that fair adjudication required prior supply of relied upon documents, return of other seized records, disclosure of tested sample reports, and a proper opportunity to reply.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded for de novo adjudication after compliance with the directions to supply documents and afford the appellant an effective opportunity of hearing.

---