Natural justice and fresh adjudication: inadequate hearing led to remand without influence from prior findings.

Inadequate notice of hearing before the appellate tribunal led the Supreme Court to interfere with the remand only to a limited extent. The Court directed the jurisdictional adjudicating authority to hear the parties afresh and decide the matter without being influenced by the observations or findings in the impugned order. The issues raised by the appellant were left open for fresh determination, and the reliance on the cited precedent was also left open to be urged before that authority.

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Issues: Whether the remand order of the appellate tribunal required interference and whether the adjudicating authority, on fresh consideration, should be left free from the observations and findings recorded in the impugned order.

Analysis: The record showed that the appellant had not had adequate notice of hearing before the appellate tribunal, and the Court was satisfied that the opportunity of hearing had not been properly availed of. In that situation, the issues raised by the appellant were left open to be determined afresh by the jurisdictional adjudicating authority. The contention based on the cited precedent was also left open to be urged before that authority.

Conclusion: The remand order was interfered with to the limited extent that the adjudicating authority was directed to hear the parties and pass a fresh order without being influenced by the observations and findings in the impugned order.

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