Natural justice and sufficient cause justify restoration where hearing notice failed to reach a closed office.

Natural justice required restoration where the assessee's Goa office had closed, notice of hearing was not effectively served, and non-appearance before the Tribunal was satisfactorily explained by counsel's affidavit. The record showed that the hearing notice did not reach the assessee in the ordinary course after closure of the project office, and the explanation for absence disclosed sufficient cause. The Tribunal's refusal to adjourn and rejection of restoration reflected an incorrect appreciation of those reasons. The dismissal of the appeal and refusal to restore it were therefore unsustainable, and the matter had to be heard afresh after due notice.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in dismissing the appeal and refusing restoration when the assessee's Goa office had been closed, notice of hearing was not effectively served, and the absence before the Tribunal was explained by the advocate's affidavit.

Analysis: The record showed that the assessee's project office at Goa had been closed after completion of the work, so the notice of hearing did not reach the assessee in the ordinary course. The appeal had remained pending for several years and was taken up for hearing for the first time only later. The affidavit of counsel explained the attempts made to locate the assessee, the difficulty in obtaining instructions, and the inability to secure timely contact for the hearing. In these circumstances, the refusal to adjourn and the rejection of restoration were held to be an incorrect appreciation of the reasons for non-appearance. The material on record disclosed sufficient cause, and the assessee had been deprived of an effective opportunity of hearing.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the appeal and the refusal to restore it were unsustainable and were quashed; the matter was required to be heard afresh by the Tribunal after giving due notice to the assessee.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a party is deprived of notice of hearing because its office has ceased to exist at the served address, and the absence before the appellate forum is satisfactorily explained, principles of natural justice require restoration and a fresh hearing on sufficient cause being shown.

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