High Court partially allows appeal, remands matter for fresh order. No costs awarded.

The High Court partially allowed the appeal, setting aside the original order from a writ petition. The matter was remanded back to the adjudicating authority to issue a fresh order without relying on the statements of certain individuals mentioned in the case. The authority was directed to do so within eight weeks after providing a personal hearing to the respondents' representative. No costs were awarded, and the Court ordered the prompt furnishing of a certified copy of the order. The judgment was delivered by T.S. Sivagnanam, J., and agreed upon by Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.

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Issues: Setting aside an order due to lack of cross-examination opportunity, reliance on recorded statements, remanding the matter back to the adjudicating authority.

The High Court judgment involved an intra-Court appeal against an order from a writ petition. The learned writ Court had set aside the original order and directed the appellant to provide an opportunity for cross-examination of individuals whose statements were considered in passing the order. The appellant contended that the adjudicating authority did not rely on any recorded statements by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence during the investigation. However, the respondent's counsel highlighted specific paragraphs from the original order that contradicted this claim. The adjudicating authority had referred to and relied on statements in reaching a conclusion against the respondents, despite stating otherwise in a later paragraph. Consequently, the Court held that if the authority did not intend to rely on the statements of certain individuals, a fresh order excluding those statements should be passed based on the available material. As a result, the appeal was partially allowed, the original order was set aside, and the matter was remanded back to the adjudicating authority to issue a fresh order without relying on the statements of the mentioned individuals. The authority was directed to comply with this within eight weeks after providing a personal hearing to the respondents' representative. The connected application was also disposed of, with no costs awarded. Finally, the Court ordered the expeditious furnishing of a certified copy of the order upon completion of all legal formalities. The judgment was delivered by T.S. Sivagnanam, J., and was agreed upon by Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.

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