Mandatory signature and verification of appeal memoranda treated as essential for maintainability before CESTAT.

Appeals before CESTAT Kolkata were required to be filed in the prescribed form, with grounds set out under distinct heads and the memorandum signed and verified by the applicant or an authorised principal officer. As the memoranda of appeal were submitted without signature or verification, the mandatory procedural requirement was not met. The appeals were therefore held not maintainable and dismissed for non-compliance with the Tribunal procedure rules.

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Issues: Whether the appeals were maintainable when the memoranda of appeal were not signed and verified as required under the Tribunal procedure rules.

Analysis: The memoranda of appeal had to be filed in the prescribed form and were required to set out the grounds under distinct heads and to be signed and verified by the applicant or an authorised principal officer. Since the present appeals were filed without signature or verification, the statutory procedural requirement was not complied with.

Conclusion: The appeals were not maintainable and were dismissed.

Final Conclusion: Non-compliance with the mandatory signature and verification requirement rendered the appeals liable to dismissal.

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