Non-consideration of a show cause reply received by the department can vitiate adjudication and require fresh decision.

Where a reply to a show cause notice is shown to have been received by the department, a presumption arises that the communication contains that reply, unless the department rebuts it by showing it related to some other matter. If the adjudicating authority fails to consider the reply before passing the order, the order cannot be sustained. The matter must then be reconsidered after giving the affected party an opportunity of personal hearing and deciding afresh according to law.

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Issues: Whether the orders of the lower authorities could be sustained when a reply to the show cause notice, supported by postal acknowledgement and alleged to have been received by the department, was not considered before adjudication.

Analysis: The receipt of a communication by the department was not disputed. In such circumstances, the basic presumption was that the communication contained the reply to the show cause notice, and the burden lay on the department to show that it related to some other matter. That presumption was not rebutted. Since the reply was not considered by the authority below, the order could not be sustained. The matter therefore required reconsideration by the adjudicating authority after furnishing an opportunity of personal hearing.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the adjudicating authority for fresh decision according to law after considering the reply and granting personal hearing.

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