Natural justice in limitation disputes requires disclosure of service evidence before an appeal can be rejected as time-barred.

An appeal cannot be rejected as time-barred on the basis of material relied upon to prove service of the order unless that material is furnished to the appellant and a fair opportunity to respond is given. Reliance on a jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner's report and the office acknowledgement register, without supplying those documents, was treated as a violation of natural justice. The limitation finding was therefore set aside, and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) for a fresh decision on limitation after disclosure of the report and hearing the appellant.

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Issues: Whether the dismissal of the appeal as time-barred could be sustained when the report relied upon to establish service of the order was not supplied to the appellant.

Analysis: The limitation finding was founded on a report of the jurisdictional Assistant Commissioner showing alleged tender of the order and on the office acknowledgement register. That material had not been furnished to the appellant for comments. Denial of access to the material relied upon in adjudication amounted to a violation of natural justice.

Conclusion: The order rejecting the appeal on limitation was set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) for fresh decision on limitation after supplying the report and granting an opportunity of hearing.

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