Natural justice breach in adjudication led to setting aside duty and penalty order and remand for fresh hearing.

An adjudication order confirming duty and penalty was found vitiated by a breach of natural justice because the record showed a personal hearing date later than the date on which the order was said to have been passed, and no counter-affidavit explained the inconsistency. The Court treated this as a gross procedural error and held that the petitioner had not been given a proper opportunity to be heard. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remanded to the authority for fresh consideration after granting a reasonable opportunity of hearing.

---

---

Issues: Whether the adjudication order confirming duty and penalty was vitiated for violation of the principles of natural justice.

Analysis: The order recorded that the petitioner had failed to appear for personal hearing on a date later than the date on which the order itself was said to have been passed. No counter-affidavit was filed to explain this discrepancy. On the face of the record, the adjudication thus suffered from a gross procedural error and was passed without a proper opportunity being afforded to the petitioner.

Conclusion: The order was set aside for breach of natural justice and the matter was remanded to the authority for fresh consideration after granting reasonable opportunity to the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The adjudication was annulled on procedural grounds and the dispute was sent back for a fresh decision on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication order passed in disregard of the opportunity of hearing and on a demonstrably inconsistent procedural record is liable to be set aside and remanded for fresh decision after due hearing.

---