Fair opportunity in refund adjudication requires notice, hearing, and chance to file documents before rejection.

Refund rejection could not be sustained where the assessee was not issued a deficiency memo or show cause notice and was denied personal hearing. The adjudication was found procedurally unfair because the assessee had indicated that further documents could be produced to establish refund eligibility. The matter was therefore remanded for de novo adjudication, with directions to grant adequate opportunity to file supporting material and be heard. The Board circular objection was noted, but it did not displace the requirement of fair adjudication before rejecting the refund claim.

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Issues: Whether the refund rejection was liable to be set aside and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication on the ground that no deficiency memo, show cause notice or personal hearing had been afforded, and whether the rejection could be sustained on the basis of the Board circular condition.

Analysis: The appellant was not given an opportunity to defend the refund claim, as no deficiency memo or show cause notice had been issued and no personal hearing had been granted. The record also indicated that the appellant asserted the ability to produce further documents to establish eligibility for refund. In these circumstances, the matter required a fresh adjudication so that the appellant could place the necessary materials before the authority. The objection founded on the Board circular was noted, but the circular could not override the need to afford a fair opportunity in adjudication.

Conclusion: The refund dispute was remanded to the adjudicating authority for de novo adjudication after granting adequate opportunity to the appellant to file documents and to be heard.

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