MA DHANLAXMI FISHERIES PVT. LTD.,HOOGHLY vs. A.C.I.T., CIRCLE - 23(1), HOOGHLY, HOOGHLY

The Ld. A.R. submitted before the Bench that the Ld. CIT(A) has issued various notices of hearing on 8.1.2021, 20.01.2023 and 27.01.2013 which were not received by the assessee and consequently no written submissions/arguments could be filed resulting into the Ld. CIT(A) deciding this appeal ex-parte without taking into account the assessee’s contentions on merit. The Ld. Counsel therefore submitted that in the interest of justice and fairplay , the assessee may be granted one more

The Ld. D.R strongly opposed the arguments of the Ld. A.R by submitting that on the various dates the assessee failed to respond and reply the notices issued by the appellate authority and therefore the appeal of the assessee deserved to be dimissed.

After hearing the rival contentions and perusing the material on record, we find that the Ld. CIT(A) has decided the appeal on the basis of facts available on record as the assessee could not file its written submissions on merit due to non-receipt of notices by the assessee. Under these circumstances, we are of the view that ends of justice could be met if the assessee gets one more opportunity before the Ld. CIT(A) giving the assessee one more opportunity allowing to file written submissions in support of grounds of appeal. Accordingly we restore the appeal back to the file of Ld. CIT(A) with the direction to set aside the same after affording a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the assessee.

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order is pronounced in the open court on 26th April, 2023