Natural justice and effective hearing justified recall of the final order and rehearing of the matter

Failure to provide an effective hearing can justify recall of a final order where the affected party was not properly represented when the appeal was called. The Tribunal treated the absence of hearing as a denial of natural justice and accepted that the lapse was inadvertent. Applying the settled approach that procedural fairness violations merit lenient consideration, it recalled the order and directed the matter to be posted again for hearing.

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Issues: Whether the final order should be recalled on the ground that the applicants were not heard, resulting in denial of the principles of natural justice.

Analysis: The matter had earlier been decided on merits in favour of the assessee by the first appellate authority, and the Tribunal noted that the applicants were not effectively represented when the appeal was called. The Tribunal treated this as a denial of hearing and found that the mistake was explained as inadvertent. In view of the settled approach that violations of natural justice warrant lenient consideration, the Tribunal accepted the request to revisit the order.

Outcome: The final order was recalled and the matter was directed to be posted again for hearing.

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