Delay condonation in tax appeals must be decided properly; tribunal cannot force a fresh application before the lower authority.

An appellate tribunal dealing with an application to excuse delay must either decide the delay question itself or remit the matter on a proper legal basis; it cannot set aside the dismissal and require the party to file a fresh condonation application before the lower authority merely for that limited purpose. Here, the Tribunal's remand was held unjustified because it neither adjudicated the delay issue nor directed reconsideration on an appropriate basis, despite the appeals having been dismissed for non-compliance with the statutory tax deposit requirement. The remand order was therefore unsustainable and was set aside, and the matters were directed to be disposed of afresh in accordance with law.

---

---

Issues: Whether the Appellate Tribunal was justified in setting aside the dismissal orders and remanding the appeals to the appellate authority merely to enable the assessee to file applications for condonation of delay in depositing the admitted tax.

Analysis: The appeals had been dismissed for non-compliance with the statutory requirement of depositing the admitted tax under section 34 of the Kerala General Sales Tax Act. The Tribunal, instead of deciding the question of delay itself or directing the appellate authority to reconsider the matter on the basis of additional material already received by it, set aside the dismissal and remitted the matters back solely so that the assessee could move fresh applications before the lower authority. Such a course was held to be unjustified, because an appellate tribunal can either decide the delay question itself or send the matter back for reconsideration on a proper basis, but cannot dismiss the delay application before it and then require a fresh application before the lower authority for that limited purpose.

Conclusion: The remand order of the Tribunal was unsustainable and was set aside.

Final Conclusion: The revisions succeeded and the Tribunal was directed to dispose of the matters afresh in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: An appellate tribunal, when seized of an application to excuse delay, must either decide that question itself or remand the matter on a proper legal basis; it cannot first reject the application before it and then direct the party to renew the same request before the lower authority.

---