Curable fee deficiency cannot make an appeal non-maintainable; appellant must get an opportunity to pay before merits hearing.

An appeal cannot be rejected as not maintainable solely because the full prescribed hearing fee has not been paid when the deficiency is curable. The appellant must first be informed of the shortfall and given an opportunity to deposit the balance before the appeal is considered on merits. The dismissal as not maintainable was therefore unsustainable, and the appeal was required to be heard after the deficiency was made good within the time granted.

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Issues: Whether an appeal could be dismissed as not maintainable for non-payment of the full hearing fee, and whether the appellant was entitled to an opportunity to deposit the deficiency before the appeal was taken up on merits.

Analysis: The appeal was found to be incomplete for want of the requisite fee, but the deficiency was capable of being made good. The Court held that non-payment of the prescribed fee did not justify treating the appeal as not maintainable. Before an appeal is taken up, the appellant must be informed of any fee deficiency and afforded an opportunity to remove it.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the appeal as not maintainable was held unsustainable, and the Appellate Authority was directed to hear the appeal on merits after the petitioner deposits the remaining fee within the time granted.

Ratio Decidendi: An appeal cannot be rejected as not maintainable solely for non-payment of the full prescribed fee when the deficiency can be cured, and the appellant must be given an opportunity to remove such defect before adjudication on merits.

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