Loading judgment…
Facts
The assessee, a charitable trust, filed its return of income for AY 2018-19 showing NIL income. The AO made an addition of Rs. 1,28,88,754/- for want of cogent evidence. The assessee filed an appeal before the CIT(A) with a significant delay, claiming non-receipt of notices and order.
Held
The Tribunal held that the CIT(A) wrongly dismissed the appeal without adjudicating on merits due to delay in filing. In the interest of justice, the Tribunal condoned the delay, set aside the CIT(A)'s order, and remitted the matter back to the AO for fresh assessment.
Key Issues
Whether the delay in filing the appeal before the CIT(A) should lead to its dismissal without considering the merits, especially when the assessee claims non-receipt of notices.
Sections Cited
12A(a), 11(1), 143(3), 144B
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘D’ BENCH, CHENNAI
Before: SHRI GEORGE GEORGE K & SHRI S.R. RAGHUNATHA
आयकर अपीलीय अधिकरण,‘डी’ न्यायपीठ,चेन्नई IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL ‘D’ BENCH, CHENNAI श्री जॉजज जॉजज के, उपाध्यक्ष एवं श्री एस.आर.रघुनाथा, लेखा सदस्य के समक्ष BEFORE SHRI GEORGE GEORGE K, VICE PRESIDENT AND SHRI S.R. RAGHUNATHA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER आयकर अपील सं./ITA No.:1555/Chny/2025 धनिाजरण वर्ज / Assessment Year: 2018-19 Alternative for India Development, Income Tax Officer, No. 1, VGN Nagar, vs. Exemption Ward -4, Iyyappanthangal, Chennai. Kattupakkam Post, Chennai – 600 056. [PAN:AAATA-4184-H] (अपीलाथी/Appellant) (प्रत्यथी/Respondent) अपीलाथी की ओर से/Appellant by : Shri. K.Viswa Padmanabhan, CA. प्रत्यथी की ओर से/Respondent by : Shri. P.K. Senthil Kumar, Addl.CIT. सुनवाई की तारीख/Date of Hearing : 15.07.2025 घोर्णा की तारीख/Date of Pronouncement : 12.09.2025 आदेश /O R D E R PER S. R. RAGHUNATHA, AM :
This appeal by the assessee is filed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, for the assessment year 2018-19, vide order dated 08.04.2025.
Brief facts of the case are that the assessee is a charitable trust dedicated for the eradication of poverty with prime focus in the state of Jharkand and also operating pan India which majorly includes Tamilnadu. The assessee is registered u/s.12A(a) of the Act w.e.f 23.12.1986. The assessee filed its return of income for the A.Y.2018-19, on 12.09.2018, admitting a total income of Rs.NIL after claiming exemption u/s.11(1) of the Act towards the income utilised
:-2-: ITA. No:1555/Chny/2025 for charitable or religious purposes amounting to Rs.1,69,43,050/-. The case was selected for scrutiny assessment and issued statutory notices from time to time. However, assessee filed only few documents and information to the AO during the assessment proceedings. Later, the AO issued a show cause notice along with draft assessment order dated 31.05.2021 proposing to disallow the following for want of cogent evidence: - Grant from companies under CSR Rs.94,76,902/- - Corpus donation made to other trusts / persons Rs. 7,65,617/- - Income from other sources Rs.26,46,226/- However, the assessee failed to file any further details before the AO and hence the AO passed an order u/s.143(3) r.w.s.144B of the Act dated 30.08.2021 by making an addition of the above stated amounts of Rs.1,28,88,754/-.
Aggrieved by the order of the Assessing Officer, the assessee filed an appeal before the ld.CIT (A), NFAC, Delhi.
At the outset, the ld.CIT(A) found that there is a delay of 874 days in appeal filed by the assessee on 20.02.2024 against the order u/s.143(3) of the Act dated 30.08.2021. Before the ld.CIT(A), the assessee filed the condonation of delay petition stating that the statutory notices issued by the AO had not been received by the assessee and also the order passed u/s.143(3) of the Act dated 30.08.2021. The assessee became aware of the order passed only after attachment of the bank account of the trust on 13.02.2024. The assessee immediately took steps to file an appeal against the order of the AO and filed the same on 20.02.2024 and prayed for condonation of delay. The ld.CIT(A) after considering the exclusion of COVID-19 as directed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court found that still there is a delay of 632 days beyond the extended limitation period of 30.05.2022. Therefore, the ld.CIT(A) dismissed appeal of the assessee by rejecting the condonation petition for delay in filing of the assessee without adjudicating the case on merits.
:-3-: ITA. No:1555/Chny/2025
Aggrieved by the order of ld.CIT(A), the assessee has filed an appeal before us.
The ld.AR submitted that the assessee is a registered public charitable trust in carrying out bonafide charitable activities for the benefit of general public and the denial of exemption solely on procedural grounds defeats the purpose of the beneficial provisions u/s.11 & 12 of the Act. Further, the ld.AR stated that the appeal was not prosecuted before the ld.CIT(A) as the same has been dismissed without condoning the delay in filing the appeal and also the assessment order was passed u/s.143(3) of the Act by the AO without the complete participation of the assessee while making an addition of Rs.1.28 Crores. Therefore, ld.AR prayed for one more opportunity may be provided to the assessee to represent his case before the AO in the interest of natural justice. Further, the ld.AR assured the bench that he will undertake to represent on behalf of the assessee before the AO, in case one more opportunity is provided.
Per contra, the ld.DR submitted that the assessee is negligent in responding to the notices of the department and filed the appeal before the ld.CIT(A) with a delay of 874 days and hence prayed for confirming the order of the ld.CIT(A).
We have heard rival contentions and noticed that the ld.CIT(A) has passed an order by not condoning the delay in filing the appeal by 874 days before the first appellate proceedings. We note that the assessee had filed the appeal before the ld.CIT(A) belatedly due to non receipt of notices and order of the AO and became aware of the order only after attachment of the bank account of the trust. Hence, in the interest of justice, we are of the considered view that the assessee needs to be given one more opportunity before the AO
:-4-: ITA. No:1555/Chny/2025 as assessee had not filed the complete details during the assessment proceedings.
In the present facts and circumstances of the case and to meet the ends of justice, we are deeming it fit to provide one more opportunity to the assessee and hence we set aside the order of the ld.CIT(A) by condoning the delay in filing the appeal before the first appellate authority and remit the matter back to the file to AO to frame the assessment denovo in accordance to law, after providing reasonable opportunity to the assessee. Needless to say, assessee to be diligent and file written submissions and relevant documents if advised so.
In the result, appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the court on 12th September, 2025 at Chennai.