Appellate tribunal must decide tax appeals on merits, not dismiss them merely for non-appearance or default.

An appellate tribunal cannot dismiss a statutory tax appeal solely for non-appearance or want of prosecution; it must adjudicate the appeal on merits and address the substantive controversy even if the appellant is absent. Applying that settled principle, the Madras HC held that dismissal of the assessee's appeals in limine for default was unsustainable. The impugned orders were set aside and the appeals were restored to the Tribunal for fresh decision on merits.

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Issues: Whether the Tribunal was justified in dismissing the assessee's appeals in limine for non-prosecution without deciding them on merits and whether such dismissal could stand under the appellate framework governing the Tribunal.

Analysis: The appeals arose from dismissal of the assessee's second appeal before the Tribunal solely because none appeared when the matters were called. The governing principle, consistently applied in prior decisions, is that the Tribunal is required to decide an appeal on merits and cannot dismiss it merely for default of appearance. A dismissal for want of prosecution without examining the merits is contrary to the settled approach that an appellate adjudication must address the substantive controversy even if a party remains absent.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the appeals in limine was unsustainable and the substantial questions of law were answered in favour of the assessee.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders were set aside and the appeals were restored to the Tribunal for fresh decision on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: An appellate tribunal cannot dismiss a statutory tax appeal solely for non-appearance or want of prosecution without adjudicating the appeal on merits.

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