Defective appeal procedure allows dismissal in limine when non-appearance and unresolved objections prevent admission for hearing

Repeated non-appearance by the assessee and failure to cure defects in the memorandum of appeal justified treating the appeal as unadmitted. Applying Rule 19 of the Income-tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963, the Tribunal noted that mere issuance of notice does not by itself admit an appeal for hearing, and an appeal left defective and unattended may be dismissed in limine without going into merits. On that basis, the Tribunal found no ground to proceed and dismissed the appeal as unadmitted.

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Issues: Whether the appeal could be treated as unadmitted and dismissed in limine for repeated non-appearance and failure to cure defects in the memorandum of appeal.

Analysis: The appeal was called on for hearing repeatedly, but no one appeared for the assessee and no request for adjournment or compliance with the registry objections was made. Relying on Rule 19 of the Income-tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963 and the principle that mere issuance of notice does not by itself amount to admission of the appeal, the Tribunal held that a defective appeal which is not properly cured and pursued can be treated as inadmissible. Following the earlier view that such non-compliance prevents the appeal from being admitted for hearing, the Tribunal found no basis to proceed on merits.

Conclusion: The appeal was held to be unadmitted and was dismissed in limine, against the assessee and in favour of the Revenue.

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