Ex parte appellate disposal must still address GST appeal grounds; non-speaking order set aside and remanded for fresh merits review.

An appellate authority may proceed ex parte when an appellant does not appear, but it must still decide the GST-registration appeal on merits and address the grounds raised in the memorandum of appeal. Where the appellate order merely upholds the original decision without examining objections such as vagueness of the show-cause notice and breach of natural justice, it reflects non-application of mind and cannot stand. The appellate order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh adjudication on merits.

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Issues: Whether the appellate order rejecting the assessee's GST-registration appeal without dealing with the grounds raised in the memorandum of appeal could be sustained, and whether the matter required remand for fresh consideration.

Analysis: The petitioner did not appear before the appellate authority on the dates fixed, so the proceeding could validly continue ex parte. However, an ex parte disposal did not dispense with the appellate authority's duty to consider the appeal on merits. The impugned order merely affirmed the original authority's findings without addressing the grounds urged in the appeal, including the challenge based on vagueness of the show-cause notice and violation of natural justice. Such non-consideration showed absence of application of mind in the appellate order.

Conclusion: The appellate order was set aside and the matter was remanded to the appellate authority for fresh adjudication on merits.

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