Natural justice in export obligation penalty matters requires effective notice and hearing before adverse fiscal action is sustained.

Natural justice required an effective opportunity of hearing before imposing penalty for alleged non-fulfilment of export obligation. The petitioner contended that the show cause notice and hearing notices were only uploaded on the website and no proper personal hearing was granted, while the respondents stated that communications were sent by email and expressed readiness to hear the petitioner. The HC held that the adverse fiscal order could not stand without demonstrated compliance with hearing requirements, quashed the impugned order, and remitted the matter for fresh adjudication after notice and hearing, with liberty to revive the order if the petitioner failed to appear.

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Issues: Whether the impugned order imposing penalty for alleged non-fulfilment of export obligation could be sustained when the petitioner complained of non-service of the show cause notice and hearing notices and sought an opportunity of personal hearing.

Analysis: The dispute turned on compliance with principles of natural justice in the adjudication of the alleged export-obligation default. The petitioner asserted that the notices were only uploaded on the website and that no effective opportunity of hearing was granted. The respondents stated that the communications had been sent to the email address available with them, but also indicated readiness to afford a hearing. In that backdrop, the Court found it appropriate to set aside the impugned order and restore the matter for fresh consideration with notice and hearing.

Conclusion: The impugned order was quashed and the matter was remitted to the adjudicating authority to hear the petitioner and receive documents on the specified date, failing which the impugned order would revive.

Ratio Decidendi: An order imposing adverse fiscal consequences cannot be sustained where effective opportunity of hearing is not shown to have been afforded, and the proper course is to set aside the order and remit the matter for fresh adjudication after granting hearing.

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