Additional evidence may be admitted on sufficient cause; tax appeal should not fail on a technicality and must be decided on merits.

Form 3-C could not be produced as of right before the appellate authority because it constituted additional evidence under section 12-B of the U.P. Sales Tax Act, but the authority could admit it on sufficient cause being shown. An appeal should not be rejected on a purely technical ground where the assessee's liability and claim for exemption require determination on merits. The lower authorities' orders were quashed and the matter was remitted for fresh disposal, with opportunity to produce permissible additional evidence.

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Issues: Whether the assessee's appeal could be rejected for non-deposit of admitted tax and whether the appellate authority ought to have allowed production of form 3-C as additional evidence and decided the appeal on merits.

Analysis: Form 3-C could not be filed as of right before the appellate authority because its production amounted to additional evidence within the meaning of section 12-B of the U.P. Sales Tax Act. The appellate authority, however, had the power to admit such evidence if satisfied that the assessee was prevented by sufficient cause from producing it before the Sales Tax Officer or had sufficient reason to believe that it could not then be filed. On the facts, the matter should not have been disposed of by a technical rejection when the assessee's liability and claim for exemption required consideration on merits.

Conclusion: The rejection of the appeal on a technical ground was not justified, and the assessee was entitled to have the appeal heard afresh with an opportunity to produce form 3-C in accordance with law.

Final Conclusion: The revision was allowed, the orders of the lower authorities were quashed, and the matter was remitted to the first appellate authority for fresh disposal on merits after considering any permissible additional evidence.

Ratio Decidendi: An appellate authority may admit additional evidence on sufficient cause being shown, and an appeal should not be rejected on a purely technical ground where the dispute ought to be decided on merits.

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