Hon’ble High Court of Gauhati in the recently concluded case of Pawan Entreprise v. Union of India (2014) 47 taxmann.com 197 (Gauhati) held that an appeal of a proprietorship firm cannot be dismissed on the grounds that the appeal was signed by a staff member instead of the proprietor.

In the immediate case, the tribunal rejected an appeal filed by the appellant on the ground that the appeal had the signature of a staff member of the proprietorship firm instead of the proprietor. The High Court held that the tribunal shall have granted an opportunity to rectify the defects as the approach of the adjudicating authority should be to ensure that substantial justice is done to parties by affording them an opportunity of hearing on the merits of the case.