ISAAC MALIYIL G ,KERALA vs. DY. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX , CIRCLE-12(1), HYDERABAD

The assessee has raised the following grounds in his appeal:-

At the outset, the Ld. AR submitted that the Ld. CIT (A) has passed ex parte order without providing an opportunity to the assessee of being heard. It was further argued that the ld. AO passed order without providing sufficient opportunity to the assessee in order to present cogent evidence in support of his claim that the amount deposited in the bank account was the amount reived from the policy holder towards his policy premium which the assessee was supposed to remit to the insurance company. Therefore, It was pleaded that the matter may be remitted back to the file of the Ld AO in order to provide one more opportunity to the assessee to pursue the appeal. Ld. DR, on the other hand, vehemently opposed to the submissions of the Ld. AR and argued that sufficient opportunities were provided to the assessee however, on the given dates of hearing, neither the assessee nor his Representative appeared before the Ld. CIT (A) and the assessee had also not submitted evidence to substantiate his claim before the ld. AO. It was further argued that the Ld. CIT (A) had no other option but to pass ex-parte order based on the materials available on record. Hence, it was pleaded that the order passed by the Ld. Revenue Authorities does not call for interference and the appeal of the assessee may be dismissed.

I have heard the rival submissions and carefully perused the materials on record. On examining the facts of the case, I find merit in the submissions of the Ld. DR. The Ld. CIT (A) had posted the case on several occasions. However, none appeared on behalf of the assessee before the CIT(A) on the dates of hearing. Therefore, the Ld. CIT (A) was left with no other option except to adjudicate the appeal ex-parte. In this situation, I do not find much strength in the arguments advanced by the ld. AR. However, considering the merits of the case, I find that the Ld. AO ought to have properly examine the claim of the assessee because if the cash deposit in the bank account belongs to the policy holder then the assessee would have remitted the same to the insurance company and that could have been verified from the bank statement of the assessee. Therefore, in the interest of justice, I hereby remit the matter back to the file of Ld. AO in order to consider the appeal afresh on merits by providing one more opportunity to the assessee of being heard and the assessee is at liberty to adduce any fresh evidence before the Ld. AO in order to justify his stand. At the same breath, I also hereby caution the assessee to promptly co-operate before the Ld. Revenue Authorities in their proceedings failing which the Ld. Revenue Authorities shall be at liberty to pass appropriate order in accordance with law and merits based on the materials on the record. It is ordered accordingly.

In the result, appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes as indicated hereinabove.