Natural justice required notice before rejecting an appeal for an alleged unauthorised signatory, and the matter was restored.

An appellate order rejecting an assessee's appeal solely because the memorandum was said to be unsigned by an authorised signatory was set aside where material showed the signatory was in fact authorised. The HC held that, if the authority intended to rely on any objection to that evidence or to the assessee's submissions, notice and an opportunity to were required. Denial of such opportunity breached natural justice and fair play, so the appeal was restored to the appellate authority for fresh consideration on merits after hearing all parties.

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Issues: Whether the appellate order rejecting the assessee's appeal on the ground that the memorandum of appeal was not signed by an authorised signatory, without putting the assessee to notice, was liable to be set aside and the appeal restored for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The appeal had been dismissed solely on a technical objection regarding the signatory's authority. The Court found that material was available to show that the signatory was authorised to sign the appeal memo. It also held that if the authority had any objection to the evidence or submissions relied upon, the assessee ought to have been given notice and an opportunity to meet that objection. Denial of such opportunity offended the principles of natural justice and fair play.

Conclusion: The impugned appellate order was set aside and the appeal was restored to the appellate authority for fresh consideration on merits after granting hearing to all parties.

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