2018 (10) TMI 753 - AT - Central Excise

Principles of Natural Justice - no proper opportunity of hearing granted - case of appellant is that appearance could not be made for personal hearing as all the documents were in the possession of Department - Held that - It is evident that the adjudicating authority has granted three opportunities of personal hearing in a row i.e 06.06.2017, 07.06.2017 and 08.06.2018, which, prima facie, appears to be not logical and is a complete violation of settled proposition of law settled by this Tribunal in the case of Deepak Gupta vs CCE, Kolkata 2015 (11) TMI 1459 - CESTAT KOLKATA , where it was held that Granting three consecutive days of hearing i.e. at short intervals of a week or so cannot be considered as the reasonable opportunity afforded to the appellant before deciding the case. Matter to the original authority with a direction to decide the matter de novo by affording reasonable opportunity of hearing to the Appellants to defend their case - appeal allowed by way of remand.

Summary

Issues: Violation of principle of natural justice in granting opportunity of hearing.

In this case, the Appellants filed an appeal against the Order-in-Original passed by the Commissioner of Central Goods & Service Tax. The dispute pertained to the period from April 2011 to September 2013 when the Appellants were engaged in the manufacture of MS Ingots. The Department conducted a search at the factory and residential premises, leading to the recovery of certain items and issuance of show cause notices. The Appellants contended that they were not granted proper opportunity of hearing during the proceedings, as the documents necessary for defense were in possession of the Department. The Appellants requested the return of documents, which was not fulfilled, and this aspect was not considered while passing the impugned order. On the other hand, the Department argued that sufficient opportunities were provided for a hearing, which the Appellants did not avail. The Tribunal found that the authority had granted three consecutive days for a hearing, which was deemed illogical and a violation of the principle of natural justice. Citing a previous ruling, the Tribunal set aside the impugned order and remanded the matter to the original authority for a fresh decision, emphasizing the need for a reasonable opportunity of hearing for the Appellants to defend their case. The Appellants were directed to cooperate with the authorities, failing which the law would take its course. The appeal was allowed by way of remand, with the Appellants instructed to appear before the adjudicating authority by a specified date to seek a hearing opportunity.