T.V. KUNHAPPAN Vs. THE STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE Tax Revision Cases pertain to the years of assessment 1961 -1962 and 1962 -1963 and the tax levied is sales tax. The short question raised in these cases by the same petitioner is about the correctness of the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal dismissing the appeals before it for the two years as barred by limitation, consequent on the dismissal of the applications for excusing the delay in preferring the appeal. These applications were rejected, as we understand the orders, not on the merits but on the ground that these applications did not accompany the memorandum of appeal and that they do not conform to the requirements of the Kerala Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal Regulations, 1956. Regulation 44(6) is the one that has apparently been relied on and that is in these terms: -

(2.) THIS Court in Thavoob Sait v. Ayyappan reported in, 1963 K.L.T. 455 relied on the observations of the Supreme Court in Fagat Dish v. Jawahar Lal reported in : A.I.R. 1961 S.C. 832 to the following effect: -

(3.) NOR are we impressed with the reasoning that the applications do not conform to the requirements of the regulations. Apparently the defect relied on is the absence of a separate affidavit in support of the application. An application there was, for the one moved before the Tribunal contained a specific prayer and it was duly stamped. The same paper also contained a sworn statement duly authenticated and the fact that these two happened to be in the same paper cannot make them anything different than a petition supported by an affidavit. No doubt the proper way of filing it is different. This again is not a matter of substance but of pure form and should not have been relied for a dismissal in limine.