Non-supply of relied-upon documents justified interim stay of a show cause order pending further hearing.

Interim protection was granted where the petitioner challenged a show cause process on the ground that seized documents and records, referred to in the proceedings, had not been supplied. The Delhi High Court treated the non-supply grievance as serious enough for threshold consideration and stayed operation of the impugned order until the next hearing, pending further examination of whether the relied-upon material had been properly disclosed.

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Issues: Whether the impugned order could be stayed at the interim stage on the grievance that documents and records seized during investigation and relied upon in the show cause proceedings had not been supplied to the petitioner.

Analysis: The petitioners complained that certain documents and records seized in 2011 were not supplied, that the show cause notice was supported only by limited relied upon material, and that the impugned order referred to and relied upon documents never furnished to them. The Court found the grievance sufficient to warrant consideration at the threshold and granted interim protection.

Outcome: Notice issued and the operation of the impugned order stayed till the next date of hearing.

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