Natural justice in adjudication: unreadable relied-upon documents and retained records justified setting aside the order and remand.

Denial of readable copies of relied-upon documents, together with retention of unrelated seized records, deprived the assessee of an effective opportunity to answer the show cause notice and meet the case against it. The adjudication order also did not adequately address the assessee's objections based on documentary discrepancies relied upon for the demand and Modvat credit denial. The order was therefore set aside for breach of the principles of natural justice, and the matter was remitted for fresh adjudication after furnishing readable copies of relied-upon documents and returning documents not relied upon.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication order was vitiated for denial of a fair opportunity and breach of the principles of natural justice.

Analysis: The seized records had not been returned except for limited documents, and the copies supplied of the relied-upon papers were not readable. Without readable copies and access to the remaining documents, the assessee could not effectively answer the show cause notice or meet the case against it. The order also failed to satisfactorily address the assessee's objections based on the documentary discrepancies relied upon in the demand and Modvat credit denial.

Conclusion: The adjudication order was set aside as having been passed in violation of the principles of natural justice, and the matter was remitted for fresh adjudication after furnishing readable copies of relied-upon documents and returning the documents not relied upon.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication that denies an assessee access to readable copies of relied-upon documents and retains unrelated seized documents without justification violates natural justice and is liable to be set aside and remanded for de novo consideration.

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