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Facts
The assessee failed to appear before the Assessing Officer (AO) and the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) (CIT(A)), leading to ex-parte orders. The CIT(A) dismissed the appeals in limine without adjudicating on merits. The assessee's counsel stated that the assessee was not properly assisted by the previous tax counsel.
Held
The Tribunal noted that the appeals were dismissed ex-parte due to the assessee's non-appearance. Considering the submissions and in the interest of natural justice, the Tribunal set aside the CIT(A)'s order and restored the appeals to the file of the CIT(A) for adjudication on merits.
Key Issues
Whether the assessee should be granted another opportunity to present their case before the CIT(A) when appeals were dismissed ex-parte due to non-appearance?
Sections Cited
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, MUMBAI “SMC” BENCH : MUMBAI
Before: SHRI B.R. BASKARAN & SHRI SANDEEP GOSAIN
Date of Hearing : 05-03-2025 Date of Pronouncement : 05-03-2025 O R D E R PER B.R. BASKARAN, A.M : All the three appeals, filed by the assessee are directed against the order(s) passed by the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)- National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi [„Ld.CIT(A)‟] and they relate to AYs. 2015-16, 2016-17 & 2017-18.
At the outset, we notice that the AO as well as the Ld.CIT(A) were constrained to pass the orders ex-parte, since the assessee did not appear before both of them. We further noticed that the Ld.CIT(A) has dismissed all the appeals of the assessee in limine, without adjudicating the issues urged by the assessee on merits.
305 & 306/Mum/2025 3. The Ld.AR submitted that the assessee was not properly assisted by the earlier tax counsel and hence there was failure on the part of the assessee to properly represent its case before the tax authorities. Accordingly, he prayed that the assessee may be provided with one more opportunity to present his cases properly.
We heard the Ld.DR and perused the record. Having regard to the submissions made by the Ld.AR, we are of the view that, in the interest of natural justice, the assessee may be provided with one more opportunity to present its cases properly before the Ld.CIT(A). Accordingly, we set aside the order passed by the Ld.CIT(A) and restore all the issue to the file of the Ld.CIT(A) for adjudicating the grounds urged by the assessee on merits. We also direct the assessee to fully co-operate with the Ld.CIT(A) for expeditious disposal of the issues in all the appeals.
In the result, all the appeals filed by the assessee are treated as allowed for statistical purposes.