The right to be heard is a fundamental principle of natural justice and includes the right to know the case against one and to have a fair opportunity to correct or contradict any evidence or statements that may be prejudicial.

( 1 ) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the constitution by one Devi Chand for the issue of a writ of certiorari to quash the order of the Collector of Central Excise, Hyderabad in C. No. VIII/ 10/11/63, dated 29-7-1963, imposing on him a penalty of Rupees 50,000/- under S. 112 (a) of the customs Act, 196 2 (hereinafter called "the Act") for having abetted the smuggling into Indian customs waters of a large quantity of spice of the value of Rs. 2. 7 lakhs in a launch from Ceylon and the subsequent landing of the goods at an unfrequented seashore near Eathamukkala in Ongole taluk, Guntur District. In respect of the same transaction, penalties ranging from Rs. 25,000. 00 to Rs. 7,00,000. 00 were imposed on five other persons including one Md. Salab Sahib, who has filed the companion writ petition No. 1248 of 1963.

( 2 ) WE should like to say at once that the petitioner has chosen to bypass section 128 of the Act, under which an aggrieved person has a right of appeal to the Central Board of Revenue and Sec. 131, where under a revision lies to the Central Government, and has invoked the special jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution without exhausting those statutory remedies. Such being the case, we would have had no hesitation in dismissing this writ petition on that ground alone, but for the fact that the adjudication by the Collector of Central Excise is vitiated by a flagrant disregard, albeit in absolute good faith, of the essential requirements of natural justice, which in essence is only "fair play in action", is some thing which is basic to our legal system, and the importance of upholding it far outweighs the significance of any particular case. Natural justice, is the name given to certain fundamental rules which are considered so necessary to the proper exercise of power that they are projected from the judicial to the administrative sphere. This is because experience has shown that there is much truth in the aphorism of Lord Action that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

( 3 ) IN view of the order we propose to make in this case, it would suffice if we set out the allegations against the petitioner and his confederates in broad outline and indicate the manner in which the inquiry against the petitioner was conducted by the collector.

( 4 ) ON 27-4-1963, on receipt of information that a gang of smugglers were arranging to land at the sea-shore near Eathamukkala, spices from a launch anchored in the sea, the Deputy Superintendent of Central Excise, Ongole, made arrangements for petrolling and guarding all the roads leading to Eathamukkala. At about 11 p. m. on 27-4-1963, while the Deputy Superintendent, accompanied by his local staff and police party, was proceeding in a jeep towards the sea-shore a car which was later ascertained to belong to one K. Ramalinga Reddy of Ongole, crossed them and proceeded towards Ongole. after the party had travelled a few yards on the cross-road to Eathamukkala, they met another car bearing No. BYJ 3663 coming car was reported to be carrying some of the smugglers, the Deputy Superintendent stopped the car, and found that four persons by names Dayalchand Choudary, Prem Sagar Manchanda, Nagarathnam alias Vadivelu and Md. Saleh Sahib were inside the car. The car was searched but nothing incriminating was found. The occupants were interrogated and searching questions were put to them. After giving evasive answers in the beginning, Dayalchand Choudary ultimately admitted that he and Prem Sagar Manchanda were associated with the smugglers as purchasers and promised to assist the customs authorities in seizing the goods.

( 5 ) AT Ongole, the officers detailed for watching suspected cats, found a car bearing registration No. MSV 2792 parked in front of a hotel on the night of 27-4-1963. The car appears to have been identified as one belonging to the smugglers and the persons who had come by that car and were sleeping i