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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, JAIPUR BENCHES, JAIPUR
Before: SHRI RAMESH C. SHARMA, AM & SHRI VIJAY PAL RAO, JM vk;dj vihy la-@ITA No. 665/JP/2018
This appeal by the assessee is directed against the order dated 02.01.2018 of ld. CIT (A), Ajmer for the assessment year 2009-10. The assessee has raised the following grounds :-
The ld. CIT (A) has erred on facts and in law in confirming the addition without providing adequate opportunity of hearing.
2. The ld. CIT (A) has erred on facts and in law in upholding the validity of order passed u/s 147 of the IT Act, 1961. 3. The ld. CIT (A) has erred on facts and in law in confirming the addition of Rs. 7,65,293/- made by the AO on account of unexplained investment in the plot of land u/s 69 of the Act. He has further erred in confirming the addition ignoring that out of the above amount, Rs. 2,79,393/- is paid out of the regular source of income and the alleged on money of rs. 4,85,900/-
which is based on the statement of Sh. Madan Mohan Gupta u/s 131 and the seized material found from him is never paid by the assessee nor any opportunity to cross examine him and the alleged papers were provided to the assessee.
The assessee craves to amend, alter and modify any of the grounds of appeal.
5. The appropriate cost be awarded to the assessee.
The ld. A/R of the assessee has submitted that the appeal of the assessee has been dismissed by the ld. CIT (A) ex parte while passing the impugned order. He has pleaded that the ld. CIT (A) has rejected the request for adjournment sought by the assessee and thereby dismissed the appeal of the assessee ex parte without passing a speaking order. Thus he has pleaded that the assessee may be given one more opportunity to present his case before the ld. CIT (A). He has further contended that since the assessee was a Government Officer and was posted out of Jaipur, therefore, he was not able to attend the proceedings before the ld. CIT (A).
On the other hand, the ld. D/R has objected to the prayer of the assessee for giving one more opportunity of hearing and submitted that the ld. CIT (A) has granted 9 opportunities to the assessee and no one has attended on a single date of hearing. He has relied upon the orders of the authorities below.
4. We have considered the rival submissions as well as the relevant material on record. There is no dispute that the ld. CIT (A) has fixed the appeal as many as 9 times and on all the dates nobody has attended before the ld. CIT (A) but the assessee sought adjournment after adjournment. Finally, the ld. CIT (A) vide impugned order dismissed the appeal of the assessee for want of any explanation with regard to the investment in the plot situated at “Revenue Residency”
Residential Scheme. Though it is a case of non attendance of the assessee before the ld. CIT (A), however, the ld. CIT (A) has dismissed the appeal summarily in para 3.1 as under :-
“ 3.1. All these grounds of appeal relate to addition of Rs. 4,85,900/- made by the AO in respect of unexplained investment made by the appellant in Plot No. 159 in “Revenue Residency” Residential Scheme. Either during the course of assessment proceedings or appellate proceedings, the appellant has not furnished any explanation with regard to the investment of Rs. 4,85,900/- discussed by the AO in show cause notice dated 25.11.2016 issued by the AO. Therefore, the addition of Rs. 4,85,900/- made by the AO is hereby confirmed. In view of the facts discussed by the AO, the reopening of assessment u/s 147 is also held to be valid and in accordance with the provisions of law.”
In the absence of a speaking order and discussion on all the relevant aspects of the matter, a summary dismissal of the appeal by the ld. CIT (A) is not justified. Hence, in the facts and circumstances of the case and in the interest of justice, we set aside the impugned order of the ld. CIT (A) and remand the matter to the record of the ld. CIT (A) for deciding the same afresh after giving an opportunity of hearing to the assessee. In case the assessee fails to attend the hearing before the ld. CIT (A), the opportunity granted by us shall stand vacated.
In the result, appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order is pronounced in the open court on 15/05/2019.