2013 (7) TMI 128

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....ongwith interest and penalties. Conscious that against such order, statutory appeal before the Central Excise, Customs & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal is available, we had, by recording brief reasons in our Order dated 28th February 2013, issued notice to the respondents. We are prompted to entertain writ petition directly on the ground that the petitioners had prima facie made out a case of breach of principles of natural justice at the hands of the adjudicating authority. Short grievance of the petitioners is that the impugned order was passed without disposing of the petitioners' request for cross examination of certain witnesses. We notice that in the said order itself, the adjudicating authority dealt with such a request and found ....

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....l order; as noted above, confirming various duty demands with interest and penalties. Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we are inclined to interfere on the short ground of serious breach of principles of natural justice in the process of passing final order of adjudication. We say so because the adjudicating authority, though categorically informed by the representative of the petitioners that the petitioners are serious about exercise of their right to cross examination and further that any meaningful participation in the adjudicating proceedings can take place only after such cross examination is granted, the authority proceeded to decide such request only alongwith the final order of adjudication. Whether the petitioners h....