1966 (1) TMI 14

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..... th July, 1958, which was received by the Tribunal on the 12th of July. Though, under the provisions of the Act, the appeal in the prescribed form is to be accompanied with a chalan showing a deposit of Rs. 100 in the treasury, no such fee had been deposited; but in its stead, an application was sent with the appeal to the effect that the assessee was exempted from payment of any fee, in accordance with the notification issued by the Bihar Government of which communication was sent by the Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies to the assessee. On the 17th of August, 1958, the Tribunal's office intimated the assessee that the Bihar Government notification, referred to by the assessee, was not applicable and the appeal was incompetent i .....

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..... g to condone the delay in depositing the prescribed fee for the appeal ? " We have stated the facts and the circumstances of the case already. It will appear therefrom that the assessee had really a bona fide misapprehension in its mind in regard to the payment of the requisite fee in connection with an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal. The letter of the Assistant Registrar, which was filed as annexure " C " by the petitioner in this court, states : " Co-operative societies have been exempted from payment of all kinds of fees (income-tax, court-fees, etc.). This may be produced before the court of law for exemption." Reading that letter, one is naturally to have the impression that any kind of fee connected with the income-tax is not .....

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..... ts order rejecting the application for condonation of the delay. That only appears at a subsequent stage in its order and, strictly speaking, is not relevant for consideration in connection with the justifiability or otherwise of its refusal to condone the delay. It is well-settled, whether a discretion vested in a Tribunal under a statute has been exercised judicially or not is a question of law. Under section 33(2A) the Tribunal has the power to admit an appeal after the expiry of sixty days referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 33, if the Tribunal is satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period. In the instant case, the appeal was presented within the prescribed time; but as it was not a .....

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