Remand - Adjudicating Authority Directed to Supply Relied Upon Documents by SC
IN a recent case, where the CESTAT remanded the matter to the Adjudicating Authority to re-quantify the duty based on the prices quoted by a third party, the assessee went in appeal to the Supreme Court with a prayer that the Adjudicating Authority may be directed to supply copies of all the documents which are likely to be relied upon for the purpose of fresh adjudication in terms of the impugned order, to enable the appellants to meet revenue's case.
The Supreme Court found the prayer reasonable and directed the Adjudicating Authority to supply all the documents, on which it proposes to place reliance, to the appellants. It will be open to the appellants to furnish their explanation thereon. They would also be permitted to lead additional evidence, in support of their claim.
It is surprising that an assessee has to go the Apex Court of the Country to get the relied upon documents.
Why is the Department so shy of giving the documents to the assessees? In most cases, it is very difficult to get those documents from the officers. The assessees are asked to make several visits to the offices and beg for the records, often without success.