Technical defects after hearing notice under the Income-tax Act are treated as appellate-stage orders and remain appealable.

After notice of hearing is issued under Section 31(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, an order rejecting an appeal on a technical or formal defect is treated as an order under Section 31, not as an order under Section 30(2). Section 30(2) concerns presentation of appeals within limitation, while Section 31(1) governs the hearing stage once the appeal has been fixed for hearing. The practical effect is that a refusal to admit the appeal for want of a notice-of-demand copy, after the hearing notice has been issued, remains appealable to the Appellate Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether an order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner declining to admit an appeal for want of a copy of the notice of demand, after notice of hearing had been issued under Section 31(1), was an order under Section 30(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1922 or an order under Section 31, and whether such order was appealable to the Appellate Tribunal.

Analysis: Section 30(2) deals with presentation of appeal within limitation and condonation of delay, while Section 31(1) governs the hearing of an appeal after a day and place are fixed. Once the Appellate Assistant Commissioner has issued notice of hearing under Section 31(1), any order made on a preliminary objection or technical defect in the appeal, including limitation or improper form, is referable to the appellate hearing stage and not to Section 30(2). The authorities were construed in favour of preserving the assessee's right of further appeal where the appeal had in substance been taken up for hearing.

Conclusion: The order was not under Section 30(2) but under Section 31, and it was therefore appealable to the Appellate Tribunal.

Ratio Decidendi: After notice of hearing is issued under Section 31(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1922, an order dismissing or refusing to admit the appeal on a technical or formal ground is an order under Section 31 and not under Section 30(2), and is consequently appealable.

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