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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against an order of the CIT(A) which confirmed additions made by the AO u/s 144. The assessee had failed to comply with notices issued by the CIT(A), leading to an ex-parte dismissal of its appeal.
Held
The Tribunal condoned the delay in filing the appeal, acknowledging the assessee's contention of being under the control of the Official Liquidator. The Tribunal set aside the CIT(A)'s order and remitted the matter back to the AO for de novo reassessment, granting the assessee an opportunity to be heard.
Key Issues
Whether the appeal filed by the assessee is barred by limitation and whether the assessee should be provided with another opportunity for hearing before the AO for reassessment.
Sections Cited
250, 144, 68, 147, 148, 143(3)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, KOLKATA ‘D’ BENCH, KOLKATA
Before: SHRI GEORGE MATHAN & SHRI RAKESH MISHRA
PER RAKESH MISHRA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER:
This appeal filed by the assessee is against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-NFAC, Delhi [hereinafter referred to as Ld. 'CIT(A)'] passed u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’) for AY 2013-14 dated 11.10.2023, which has been passed against the assessment order u/s 144 of the Act, dated 30.03.2016. 1. 1. The Registry has informed that the appeal is barred by limitation by 522 days. The assessee has submitted that vide order of the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court, the assessee company was under control of the Official Liquidator and only after the withdrawal of the CIRP proceedings from the NCLT, the management of the assessee company was under the control of its erstwhile directors/officials. Subsequently, the I.T.A. No.: 1232/KOL/2025 Assessment Year: 2013-14 Tantia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd. management of the assessee company went through the assessment order as well as the order passed by the Ld. CIT(A) and approached the tax consultant for filing the appeal before the ITAT. Due to this, there is delay in filing of the appeal. After perusing the submission made, we are satisfied that the assessee had a reasonable and sufficient cause and was prevented from filing the instant appeal within statutory time limit. We, therefore, condone the delay and admit the appeal for adjudication.
The assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal raising the following grounds of appeal: “1.) (a) That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the order u/s 250 dated 11.10.2023 passed by Ld. CIT(A)-NFAC, Delhi is erroneous and bad in law. (b) That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) erred in passing the order on ex parte view without going into the merits of the additions/disallowances made by the AO u/s 68 of the Act in the order u/s 144 of the Act. 2.) That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) erred in confirming the action of AO who estimated net profit of the appellant company calculated @ 2.5% of gross profit amounting to Rs. 1,72,45,636/- thereby rejecting the net profit as per Audited Accounts without going into the merits of the issue. 3.) That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) erred in confirming the addition made by the AO to the tune of Rs. 9,00,00,000/- on account of share capital as unexplained cash credit u/s 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 without going into the merits of the addition 4.) That on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) erred in confirming the addition made by the AO to the tune of Rs. 96,55,531/- on account of unsecured loan as unexplained cash credit u/s 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 without going into the merits of the addition. 5.) That the appellant craves leave to add to and / or amend, alter, modify, supplement or rescind the grounds here in above, either before or at the time of hearing of this appeal.” I.T.A. No.: 1232/KOL/2025 Assessment Year: 2013-14 Tantia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd.
Brief facts of the case are that the assessee had filed his return of income for AY 2013-14 on 29.09.2013 declaring loss of ₹4,92,06,671/- . The case was selected for scrutiny and the assessment order u/s 144 of the Act was passed by the Assessing Officer (hereinafter referred to as Ld. 'AO') on 30.03.2016 assessing the total income at ₹11,99,80,740/- after making an addition of ₹1,72,45,636/- as estimation of net profit, ₹9,00,00,000/- as unexplained cash credit (on account of Share Capital received) and ₹96,55,531/- as unexplained cash credit (being Unsecured Loan) u/s 68 of the Act. Aggrieved with the assessment order, the assessee filed an appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) who issued six notices to the assessee for hearing but the assessee remained non-compliant. Since the assessee did not respond to any of the notices, the Ld. CIT(A) went through the material facts on record of the case and dismissed the appeal of the assessee by passing an ex parte order.
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.
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). The Ld. AR requested that proper compliance could not be made by the authorised representatives at the assessment as well as the appeal stage and requested that another opportunity may be provided to the assessee to represent its case properly. The Ld. DR relied upon the order of the Ld. CIT(A) and requested that the same may be upheld. Since there was no proper compliance before the Ld. AO as well as the before I.T.A. No.: 1232/KOL/2025 Assessment Year: 2013-14 Tantia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd. 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 proper opportunity of being heard may be provided. 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 back 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 its appeal are 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 30th October, 2025. [George Mathan] [Rakesh Mishra] Judicial Member Accountant Member Dated: 30.10.2025 Bidhan (Sr. P.S.) I.T.A. No.: 1232/KOL/2025 Assessment Year: 2013-14 Tantia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd. Copy of the order forwarded to:
Tantia Agrochemicals Pvt. Ltd., 25-27, Netaji Subhas Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700001. 2. DCIT, Circle-4(2), Kolkata.
CIT(A)-NFAC, Delhi.
CIT-
CIT(DR), Kolkata Benches, Kolkata.
Guard File. //// By order