Show cause notice scope limits adjudication; orders beyond the notice were set aside and remitted for fresh decision.

An adjudication cannot be sustained where the authorities decide matters not alleged in the show cause notice. The CEGAT noted that both sides accepted the adjudication and appellate orders had travelled beyond the notice, so those orders could not stand to that extent. The proceedings were required to be confined to the allegations actually set out in the notice, and the matter was remitted for fresh determination on that limited basis. The impugned orders were set aside and the dispute sent back for readjudication strictly within the original show cause notice.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication and appellate orders were liable to be set aside for travelling beyond the scope of the show cause notice and whether the matter required readjudication within the notice.

Analysis: The dispute centered on whether the lower authorities introduced and decided issues that were not put to the appellants in the show cause notice. Since both sides accepted that the adjudication and appellate orders had gone beyond the charge contained in the notice, the proceedings could not stand to the extent they rested on matters outside the notice. The proper course was to confine the controversy to the allegations actually set out in the show cause notice and re-examine the matter on that basis.

Conclusion: The appeal was allowed, the impugned orders were set aside, and the matter was directed to be readjudicated in accordance with the show cause notice.

Final Conclusion: The decision nullified the prior adjudication and appellate order and sent the dispute back for fresh determination limited to the original notice.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication cannot be sustained when it decides matters beyond the scope of the show cause notice; such proceedings must be confined to the allegations expressly put to the noticee.

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