Denial of effective hearing before tribunal can justify remand for fresh disposal, subject to a pre-deposit condition.

An assessee's effective denial of hearing before the appellate tribunal justified setting aside the tribunal's order and remitting the matter for fresh consideration in the interest of justice. The Court held that where the appellant's side was absent and its points were not heard, reconsideration was appropriate, but only on compliance with a stipulated pre-deposit condition. If the deposit was not made within time, the impugned order would revive.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal's order should be set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration because the appellant had not effectively been heard.

Analysis: The appellant's side was absent before the Tribunal when the appeal was taken up, and the resulting decision had gone in favour of the revenue without the assessee having an opportunity to urge its points. To subserve the cause of justice, the appropriate course was to set aside the Tribunal's order and remit the matter for reconsideration. The Court also imposed a condition of depositing the quantified duty amount within the stipulated time, failing which the impugned order would revive.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's order was set aside and the appeal was remitted for fresh disposal on compliance with the deposit condition; otherwise, the impugned order would stand revived.

Final Conclusion: The matter was restored to the Tribunal for a fresh decision, with the appellant required to make the specified deposit as a condition for such reconsideration.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an assessee was effectively denied a hearing before the appellate tribunal, the order may be set aside and the matter remitted in the interest of justice, subject to a reasonable pre-deposit condition.

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