Reasonable opportunity of hearing required: adjudication set aside and remanded after adjournment request was ignored.

An adjudication order was held vulnerable where the first personal hearing was not effectively afforded after an adjournment request had been made before the scheduled date. The record showed that the order was passed on the footing that no appearance was made, but the absence of a meaningful opportunity to be heard amounted to procedural unfairness. The order was therefore set aside and the matter remitted for fresh consideration after granting a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication order was liable to be set aside for denial of a reasonable opportunity of personal hearing and the matter remitted for reconsideration.

Analysis: The personal hearing fixed by the adjudicating authority was the first hearing. The record indicated that the appellant had sought an adjournment before the scheduled date, and the impugned order was passed on the basis that no appearance was made. In these circumstances, the absence of an effective opportunity of hearing amounted to a procedural unfairness affecting the adjudication.

Conclusion: The order was set aside and the matter was remitted for fresh consideration after affording a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the first personal hearing is not effectively availed of because an adjournment request was made, an adjudication passed without granting a reasonable opportunity of hearing is liable to be set aside and remanded.

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