Requirement that an appeal be accompanied by the prescribed fee...

Requirement that an appeal be accompanied by the prescribed fee is a mandatory statutory condition, but where the substantive payment was made within time and only documentary proof (challan) was not produced, that omission is a curable procedural defect; compliance in substance satisfies the statutory requirement and dismissal for non-furnishing of proof without adjudication on merits is inappropriate. The note emphasises that procedural prescriptions serve justice and should not defeat substantive rights, and that issues on denial of exemption under section 11 and Form 10B versus Form 10BB remain unexamined and require adjudication on merits.

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