Late proof of admitted tax in appeals must be tested as delay, not automatic rejection, under the sales tax appeal rules.

An appeal under the General Sales Tax Act, 1125, is treated as properly preferred only when the appeal memorandum is accompanied by proof of payment of the admitted tax. The Court read Section 14 and Rule 29 as separating presentation of the appeal from its admission, so missing proof at filing does not automatically require rejection if the proof is later furnished. Where the proof is produced after the prescribed period, the matter must be examined as one of delay under the first proviso to Section 14(1), and the authority must consider whether sufficient cause exists to excuse the delay. The rejection based solely on late production of proof was set aside.

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Issues: Whether an appeal can be rejected as not entertainable merely because proof of payment of the admitted tax was furnished after the appeal memorandum was presented, and whether the proper course is to examine delay under the proviso governing late appeals.

Analysis: Section 14 of the General Sales Tax Act, 1125, and rule 29 of the General Sales Tax Rules, 1950, were read as creating two stages: preferring an appeal and its admission. Proof of payment of the admitted tax is one of the accompanying requirements for a valid appeal memorandum, and an appeal presented without that proof is not treated as properly preferred until the proof is furnished. If the proof is furnished within time, the appeal is in order. If it is furnished after the prescribed period, the question is not automatic rejection, but whether delay in preferring the appeal can be excused on sufficient cause under the first proviso to section 14(1).

Conclusion: The appeal could not be rejected solely on the ground adopted in the impugned order. The matter had to be considered under the proviso dealing with delay, and the rejection was set aside with a direction to the appellate authority to consider the petition for excusing delay on merits.

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