Fair hearing requires notice of later adverse material before denying export incentive benefit; denial quashed and matter remitted.

A denial of Merchandise Exports from India Scheme benefit could not stand where it was based entirely on a later adjudication order that had not been served on the petitioner and had not been put to the petitioner before the speaking order was passed. The absence of an opportunity to meet that later order breached fair hearing requirements. The proper course was to allow the petitioner to respond to the adjudication order and then reconsider the claim on merits. The denial order was quashed and the matter remitted for fresh decision after hearing all concerned.

---

---

Issues: Whether the order denying Merchandise Exports from India Scheme benefit could be sustained when it was founded on a later adjudication order relied upon without affording the petitioner an opportunity to meet that order, and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The impugned decision rested entirely on the adjudication order dated 20 November 2018. That order had not been served on the petitioner when the denial was made, and the petitioner was not given an opportunity to address its effect before the authority passed the speaking order. In these circumstances, the decision-making process did not satisfy fair hearing requirements. The proper course was to permit the petitioner to deal with the later adjudication order and then reconsider the claim on merits.

Conclusion: The denial order could not be sustained and was quashed, with the matter remitted to the authority for fresh decision after hearing all concerned.

Final Conclusion: The controversy was not finally adjudicated on the substantive entitlement to the export incentive, and the petitioner obtained only a procedural relief requiring reconsideration in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: A decision that turns on a later order cannot be sustained where the affected party was denied a fair opportunity to meet that order before it was relied upon; such a breach warrants quashing and remand for fresh consideration.

---