Natural justice requires a hearing before partial rejection of a refund claim under a budgetary support scheme.

Partial rejection of a refund claim under a budgetary support scheme could not be sustained without first giving the applicant an opportunity of hearing, because natural justice applies where an adverse order with civil consequences is proposed. The Court held that if the claim is to be accepted in full, a hearing may not be necessary, but once any part is proposed for rejection, the applicant must be heard so doubts can be clarified before decision. It declined to undertake the factual calculation itself and directed reconsideration by the competent authority after hearing the petitioner. The objection based on availability of an alternative remedy was rejected because it could not override the breach of natural justice.

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Issues: Whether partial rejection of the refund claim under the budgetary support scheme could be sustained without affording the applicant an opportunity of hearing and whether the writ petition was barred by the availability of an alternative remedy.

Analysis: The scheme did not bar the application of natural justice. Where the claim was to be accepted in full, hearing was unnecessary, but once any part of the claim was proposed to be rejected, the applicant was entitled to be heard so that doubts could be clarified before an adverse order with civil consequences was passed. The Court declined to undertake the factual calculation itself and directed the competent authority to examine the claim after hearing the petitioner. On the objection of alternative remedy, the Court held that the plea did not defeat writ jurisdiction in the face of violation of natural justice.

Conclusion: The partial rejection could not stand for want of hearing, and the matter had to be reconsidered by the authority after affording an opportunity of hearing; the objection based on alternative remedy was not accepted.

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