2011 (3) TMI 1219

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....ri  S.M. Vaidya, Authorised Representative (JDR) for the appellant Shri D.S. Kulkarni, Distillery Chemist for the respondent. Per: Justice R.M.S. Khandeparkar, President Heard the departmental representative for the appellant and none present on behalf of the respondent. 2. Respondent prays for adjournment. We do not find any justifiable cause being disclosed for adjournment o....

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....er dated 02/08/2003, allowed the appeal and set aside the order of rejection on the ground of absence of show cause notice. 4. The impugned order is sought to be challenged by the department on the ground that though there was no show cause notice issued, the appellant was present at the time of hearing before the adjudicating authority.  According to the department, therefore, there was ....

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....e accepted. Mere presence of the assessee in the course of hearing of the matter does not empower the department to encroach upon the right of the assessee to have a fair opportunity of placing before the adjudicating authority the defence, whichever the assessee wants to place on record. Mere presence of the assessee cannot lead to the conclusion that the assessee had fair opportunity to defend t....