Quasi-judicial adjudication must be fair and impartial; hurried orders pre-empting review were set aside for fresh consideration.

Quasi-judicial adjudication on show cause notices must be carried out objectively, impartially, and after a fair hearing. Where adjudication orders are passed with undue haste, after a writ petition has already been listed and in a manner that appears to pre-empt judicial scrutiny, the orders cannot stand. The adjudicating authority must reconsider the notices afresh, uninfluenced by the earlier quashed orders, and decide the matter in accordance with law. The court expressly declined to express any opinion on the merits of the show cause notices.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication orders passed on the show cause notices deserved to be set aside and the matters remanded for fresh adjudication in accordance with law.

Analysis: The adjudication orders were passed after the writ petition challenging the show cause notices had already been mentioned and listed for hearing, and they dealt with the very averments raised in the writ petition. The timing and manner of disposal reflected undue haste and an approach that could pre-empt judicial scrutiny. In such a situation, the adjudicating authority was required to revisit the matter afresh, with the notices being decided objectively, impartially, and uninfluenced by the earlier orders. The Court also clarified that it was expressing no opinion on the merits of the show cause notices.

Conclusion: The adjudication orders were set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh decision after hearing the petitioner.

Final Conclusion: The proceedings were restored to the stage of adjudication on the show cause notices, with directions for fresh consideration in accordance with law and without being influenced by the quashed orders.

Ratio Decidendi: A quasi-judicial adjudication that is hurriedly concluded so as to pre-empt judicial hearing, and that appears to ignore or prejudge the response to the notice, cannot stand and must be redone by an objective and impartial authority after a fair hearing.

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