PALANI RADHAKRISHNAN,DHARMAPURI vs. ITO, WARD-1,, DHARMAPURI

The assessee is a proprietor of M/s. Jaisakthi Transport and M/s.

Sri Jaisakthi Traders, engaged in the business of tyre trading and also in the transportation of food grains as a sub-contractor. The A.O completed the assessment u/s. 143(3) r.w.s 144B of the Act (hereinafter "the Act") and disallowed 5% of the total expenses, as the net profit declared was only 1.5%. Aggrieved by the disallowance, the assessee filed an appeal before the Ld. CIT(A). The Ld. CIT(A) passed an ex-parte order stating that the assessee had not filed any written submissions.

The Ld. Authorized Representative (A.R) of the assessee has submitted that the Ld. CIT(A) had dismissed the appeal without providing property opportunity of being heard and therefore, requested one more opportunity be granted to the assessee to substantiate his case before the Ld. CIT(A).

On the other hand, the Ld. Departmental Representative (DR), relied on the orders of lower authorities.

We have heard the rival submissions, and perused the materials available on record. On perusal of the order of the Ld. CIT(A), we find that the Ld. CIT(A) has confirmed the disallowance made by the A.O solely on account of non-compliance by the assessee, without adjudicating the issue on merits. Accordingly, we set aside the orders passed by the A.O and the Ld. CIT(A) and remit the matter back to the file of the Ld. CIT(A) to decide the appeal on merits. The Ld. CIT(A) shall pass a reasoned order after providing due opportunity of hearing to the assessee, in accordance with law. We also direct the assessee to co-operate with the proceedings and appear before the Ld. CIT(A) on the date of hearing without fail. In view of the above, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes only.

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