SOUTHOPEN INFRANIRMAN CONSULTANTS PVT. LTD.,KOLKATA vs. I.T.O., WARD - 9(1), KOLKATA

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the order passed by the Ld CIT(A) without affording proper opportunity of hearing is bad in law

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Ld. CIT(A) was not justified in passing a non-speaking order

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the Ld CIT(A) was not justified in passing an order without considering the submission and documents filed by the assessee Southopen Infranirman Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the AO passed the assessment order with providing proper opportunity of hearing inasmuch as the request for video conferencing was not fulfilled in lawful manner

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the reasons recorded by the AO before the initiation of the assessment proceedings are improper

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the assessment order is invalid inasmuch as the material based on which the reassessment proceeding was initiated was not provided to the assessee

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, there is no live nexus between the material information and the reasons recorded by the AO

For that on the facts and circumstances of the case, the CIT(A) was not justified in confirming the addition of Rs. 28,00,000/- treating the sale of shares to Strongwell Commodeal (P) Ltd as the unexplained credit by wrongly invoking the provision of sec 68 of the Act

The appellant craves leave to add, alter or delete all or any of the grounds of appeal"

1 The assessee has also raised an additional ground of appeal as under: “(i) For that the notice under section 143(2) dated 01.07.2023 was issued/served beyond the limitation period as prescribed in the statute, as such, the entire reassessment proceeding is bad in law and liable to be quashed.”

Brief facts of the case are that the assessee had filed the return of income for the AY 2018-19 on 04.10.2018 declaring the total income at ₹60,440/-. The Assessing Officer (hereinafter referred to as Ld. 'AO') received credible information regarding an accommodation entry of ₹28,00,000/- received in the bank account of the assessee from M/s Strongwell Commodeal Pvt. Ltd. during the FY 2017-18. During the assessment proceedings, the assessee claimed the amount was received towards the sale of equity shares, but failed to furnish authentic documents to prove the genuineness of the transaction. The Ld. AO concluded that the transaction was bogus and made an addition of ITA No(s). 1442/KOL/2026 Assessment Year(s) 2018-19 Southopen Infranirman Consultants Pvt. Ltd. ₹28,00,000/- u/s 68 of the Act, and assessed the total income of the assessee at ₹28,60,440/- u/s 143(3) r.w.s. 147 r.w.s. 144B of the Act. Aggrieved with the assessment order, the assessee filed an appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) who observed that the assessee had received unexplained credit transactions from a non-genuine paper entity and had no explanation to offer, and thereby treating the transaction as unexplained credit u/s 68 r.w.s. 115BBE of the Act, confirmed the addition made by the Ld. AO and dismissed the appeal of the assessee.

Aggrieved with the order of the Ld. CIT(A), the assessee has filed the appeal before the Tribunal.

Rival contentions were heard and the submissions made have been examined. It was submitted by the Ld. AR that the appeal was set aside to the Ld. CIT(A) by the Tribunal to re-examine the issue on merits after affording reasonable opportunity of being heard. It was argued as an additional ground that the notice under section 143(2) of the Act was issued beyond the limitation period. It is noted that the notice under section 148 of the Act was issued on 13/04/2022 and the due date for filing the return of income, though not mentioned, is not exceeding three months from the end of the month in which such notice is issued i.e. 31/07/2022 but the assessee filed the return of income on 13/03/2023, declaring total income of ₹ 60,440/-. As per the Proviso below sub-section (2) of section 148 of the Act, any return of income required under sub-section (1), furnished after the expiry of the period specified in the notice under the said sub-section, shall not be deemed to be a return under section 139. The return of income thus being a non-est return, there was no requirement to issue any notice under section 143(2) of the Act. Further, the notice under section 143(2) of the ITA No(s). 1442/KOL/2026 Assessment Year(s) 2018-19 Southopen Infranirman Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Act is to be issued within 3 months from the end of the financial year in which the return was filed. Since a non est return was filed on 13/03/2023, the digitally signed notice issued on 30/06/2023 by email which was communicated to the assessee on 30/06/2023, was valid, even though on an invalid return of income there was no requirement to issue any notice under section 143(2) of the Act. Hence, the additional ground of appeal is dismissed.

The Ld. AR further argued that the assessee had requested for, video conference link as per page 23 of the paper book filed and no link was provided in time. An email was received on 23/02/2024 at 10:57:57 as per page 24 of the paper book containing the copy of the email, and the time given for the video conference was 23/02/2024 at 11:20:00. The Ld. AR submitted that not even 20 minutes was granted for the video conference and the assessee was not informed in time. Our attention was also drawn by the Ld. DR to Para 4.4 page 6 of the assessment order and also Para 4.3 and it was submitted by him that proper reply was not furnished before the Ld. AO and the assessment order was made on the merits of the case. The Ld. DR relied upon the order of the Ld. CIT(A) and requested that the same may be upheld. The Ld. AR requested for remanding the matter before the Ld. AO for framing the assessment de novo so that proper explanation could be filed.

We have considered the submissions made, gone through the facts of the case and perused the record and the order of the Ld. CIT(A). In the interest of justice and fair play it was considered by the Bench that the request of the assessee to set aside the case before the Ld. AO may be allowed so that a proper opportunity of being heard may be provided as adequate opportunity was not provided for the video Southopen Infranirman Consultants Pvt. Ltd. conference sought by the assessee. Hence, after examining the facts of the case, we deem it appropriate to set aside the order of the Ld. CIT(A) and remit the matter to the Ld. AO for making the reassessment de novo. Needless to say, the assessee shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard to make any further submission it wants to make in support of its grounds of appeal and shall not seek unnecessary adjournments. Accordingly, the grounds taken by the assessee in the appeal are partly allowed for statistical purposes.

In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is partly allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open Court on 29th July, 2026. [Yogesh Kumar US] [Rakesh Mishra] Judicial Member Accountant Member Dated: 29.07.2026 Bidhan (Sr. P.S.)

CIT-

CIT(DR), Kolkata Benches, Kolkata.

Guard File. //// By order