Natural justice requires effective notice and hearing before adjudication; ex parte decision was set aside and remanded for fresh consideration.

An adjudication cannot be sustained where the assessee is denied effective service of the show cause notice and a meaningful opportunity to meet the departmental case. The notice was alleged to have been pasted at premises no longer occupied by the assessee, and the decision also relied on an earlier classification order without giving a proper chance to respond to the material relied upon. The adjudication was therefore vitiated for breach of natural justice, and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication after service of notice, filing of reply and personal hearing.

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Issues: Whether the adjudication was vitiated for denial of natural justice due to non-service of the show cause notice and consequent lack of effective opportunity of hearing.

Analysis: The assessee asserted that the show cause notice had not been properly served and that a pasted copy at premises no longer occupied by it did not afford real notice. It was also noticed that the impugned adjudication relied upon an earlier order concerning classification, without the assessee having an effective opportunity to meet the departmental case or the material relied upon. On these facts, the procedural fairness required both proper notice and a meaningful hearing before adjudication.

Conclusion: The adjudication was held to be vitiated by denial of natural justice, and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication after service of the notice, filing of reply and grant of personal hearing.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded on the ground of procedural unfairness and the dispute was restored for de novo consideration by the departmental authority.

Ratio Decidendi: An adjudication cannot be sustained where the assessee is deprived of effective notice and a fair opportunity of hearing before the decision is made.

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