Fiscal exemption claim cannot be rejected for lack of earlier pleading when supporting material is already on record.

Appellate refusal to consider a fiscal exemption claim solely because it was not pleaded before the original authority was unsustainable where the relevant material was already on record and the assessee was otherwise entitled to the benefit. In such cases, the appellate forum may grant relief on a legally sustainable ground arising from the record, especially for a beneficial exemption, and should not reject the claim for want of earlier pleading alone. The appellate order was set aside and the matter remitted for fresh decision on merits, with liberty to place further material and submissions.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellate authority was justified in refusing to consider the assessee's claim for exemption under the notification merely because the specific plea had not been raised before the original authority, and whether the matter should be remitted for reconsideration on merits.

Analysis: The availability of exemption under a fiscal notification is not defeated merely because the plea was not specifically advanced at the original stage, if the relevant material is already on record and the assessee is otherwise entitled to the benefit. The appellate forum has the power and duty to grant appropriate relief on a ground that is legally sustainable, even if that ground was not urged before the departmental authority, particularly where the underlying facts are available and the claim concerns a beneficial exemption. The refusal to examine the exemption claim solely on the ground of absence of pleading before the original authority was therefore unsustainable.

Conclusion: The assessee's claim could not be rejected on the ground of plea before the original authority, and the appellate order was liable to be set aside.

Final Conclusion: The matter was remitted for fresh decision on merits after permitting the parties to place further material and submissions.

Ratio Decidendi: In fiscal matters, an appellate authority may and should grant relief on a legally sustainable ground arising from the record, even if that ground was not specifically raised before the original authority, where the assessee is otherwise entitled to the benefit.

---