Fresh adjudication of refund show cause notice required after personal hearing, with merits left open

The refund dispute was remanded for fresh consideration, but the later show cause notice had not been adjudicated before the impugned order was passed. As the petitioner limited relief to a direction for disposal of that notice and waived any claim to statutory interest, the proper course was fresh adjudication after affording a reasonable personal hearing. The Court did not enter into the merits of the refund claim again; instead, it directed the respondent to complete adjudication of the show cause notice in accordance with law. The petitioner succeeded to that extent.

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Issues: Whether the matter required fresh adjudication of the show cause notice relating to the refund claim, after granting the petitioner an opportunity of personal hearing.

Analysis: The refund claim had earlier been rejected and the matter had already been remanded for fresh consideration. The impugned order was passed without adjudicating the show cause notice issued thereafter. The petitioner confined the relief to a direction for adjudication of the notice and waived the claim for statutory interest on the refund amount, subject to sanction of refund. In these circumstances, a further decision on the merits of the refund claim was not undertaken by the Court, and the proper course was to require the respondent to complete adjudication after hearing the petitioner.

Conclusion: The matter was directed to be adjudicated afresh by the respondent after affording a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing, and the petitioner succeeded to that extent.

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