respondent to the proceedings and there being no hearing
on the merits of the case before the Appellate Authority
consisting of three Members, namely, the Chairman Shri
Eshwara Prasad, Member Shri Devendra Narain and the
third Member who was subsequently appointed, namely,
Shri A.M. Prasad, the judgment on merits could not have
been delivered by all the three Members. In other
words, the judgment on merits has been delivered by all
the three Members while the matter was heard on merits
by two Members only. This apparently discloses serious
breach of procedure on the part of the Appellate
Authority in the matter of disposal of the appeals and
being contrary to the basic principles of natural
justice. The impugned judgment is, therefore, liable to
be set aside and the matter remanded to the Appellate
Authority, to be heard and disposed of afresh in
accordance with the provisions of law. The learned
Advocate appearing for the respondent-Union of India, on
the other hand, submitted that the matters were fully
heard after the appointment of the third Member when it
came up for hearing on 25-6-2002 and being so, the
challenge to the impugned judgment on the ground of
disposal of the appeals by three Members, when the
matters were heard by only two Members, is devoid of
substance. According to the learned Advocate for the
respondents, the fact that the matter was re-heard on
25-6-2002 in the presence of all the three Members is
