Natural justice requires notice before dismissing an appeal as time-barred; the matter was remanded for a fresh hearing.

Rejecting an appeal as time-barred without prior notice on the limitation point breaches natural justice where the assessee was not given an opportunity to address that issue. The appeal had disclosed the date of communication of the original order and was stated to be within limitation on that basis; the time-bar finding was therefore set aside. The matter was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) for a fresh decision after giving the assessee a reasonable opportunity of being heard on limitation and the other issues.

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Issues: Whether the Commissioner (Appeals) was justified in rejecting the appeal as time-barred without putting the assessee on notice and whether the order was liable to be set aside on the ground of breach of natural justice.

Analysis: The appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) had disclosed the date of communication of the original order and, on that basis, was filed within limitation. The notice of hearing did not indicate any proposal to reject the appeal on limitation, and the assessee was not given an opportunity to address that issue. Rejecting the appeal solely on limitation without notice or hearing on that point constituted a breach of natural justice.

Conclusion: The impugned order rejecting the appeal as time-barred was set aside and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) for decision afresh after giving the assessee a reasonable opportunity of being heard on limitation and the other issues.

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