Principles of natural justice and cross-examination procedure require tribunal to determine request existence before finding procedural vitiation; remand ordered.

Principles of natural justice concerning the availability and relevancy of witness statements focus on whether a request for cross-examination was made; if a request existed and was denied, procedural vitiation under Section 138-B of the Act, 1962 follows, but if no request was made, such a finding is incorrect. The tribunal must ascertain, as the fact-finding authority, whether the noticee sought cross-examination by calling adjudicatory records and relevant documents, and then decide on compliance with the prescribed procedure; the matter is remitted for fresh determination accordingly.

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Issues: (i) Whether the Tribunal was justified in holding that the procedure under Section 138B of the Customs Act, 1962 was vitiated for not providing cross-examination to the noticees.

Analysis: The Court examined Section 138B and governing precedent on principles of natural justice and cross-examination in customs adjudication. It observed that Section 138B does not mandatorily require cross-examination in every case; instead the settled law requires that if a show-cause noticee requests cross-examination of persons whose statements are relied upon by the adjudicating authority, the request must be granted or, if not possible, the reasons for non-provision must be recorded. The Court found that the Tribunal did not answer the threshold factual question whether the noticees had in fact requested cross-examination and proceeded to hold vitiation; since the Tribunal is the final fact-finding body, the question of whether a request was made and the supporting records must be determined by the Tribunal after examining the adjudication record.

Conclusion: The Tribunal's finding that the procedure under Section 138B was vitiated for non-provision of cross-examination is set aside because the Tribunal did not determine whether a request for cross-examination was made; the matter is remitted to the Tribunal to decide that factual issue and thereafter proceed de novo.

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