2006 (2) TMI 29 - AT - Central Excise

Central Excise Adjudication Hearing The adjudicating authority should grant personal hearing to the assessee before passing any adjudication order

Summary

Issues:
Refund claim rejection based on lack of personal hearing and evidence submission.

Analysis:
The appeal was filed against the Order-in-Appeal upholding the rejection of the refund claim by the Order-in-Original. The appellants had submitted a C.A. certificate and detailed invoices to prove non-passing over of duty liability to customers and to avail the benefit of a Notification. The adjudicating authority, who succeeded the previous authority, did not grant a personal hearing to the appellants before passing the order. It was noted that the predecessor had granted a personal hearing and directed the appellants to produce evidence, which they did. The current authority, however, passed the order without providing a personal hearing, which is against the established legal principle that the successor should grant a personal hearing despite the appellants appearing before the predecessor.

The Tribunal found the Order-in-Original flawed due to the lack of personal hearing by the current adjudicating authority. Consequently, the Order-in-Appeal upholding the flawed order was set aside. The appeal was allowed by way of remand to the original adjudicating authority. The Tribunal directed the original authority to reconsider the matter, allowing the appellants to produce evidence and granting them a personal hearing as required by law. The decision was made in open court and pronounced accordingly.