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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against the order of the CIT(A) which had dismissed their appeal without adequate opportunity of being heard. There was a delay of 628 days in filing the appeal before the CIT(A). The assessee's AR requested for a one-time opportunity to present their case before the AO.
Held
The Tribunal noted that the assessee could not comply with notices from the CIT(A) and failed to submit relevant documents to the AO. However, considering the explanation for non-appearance and delay due to a partner's death, the Tribunal granted one more opportunity to the assessee to substantiate their claim before the AO.
Key Issues
Whether the assessee should be granted another opportunity to present their case before the AO, especially when the previous appeal was dismissed for non-compliance and delay.
Sections Cited
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, “SMC” BENCH KOLKATA
Before: SHRI GEORGE MATHAN
O R D E R This is an appeal filed by the assessee against the order of the ld. CIT(A), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, dated 10.08.2023 for the Assessment Year 2017-2018.
Shri Siddharth Jhajharia, ld.AR appeared on behalf of the assessee and Smt. Pampa Ray, ld. Sr.DR appeared on behalf of the revenue.
During the course of hearing, it was submitted by the ld. AR that the ld. CIT(A) has dismissed the appeal of the assessee without providing any sufficient opportunity of being heard to the assessee. It was also submitted that there was a delay of 628 days in filing the appeal before the ld. CIT(A), which may kindly be condoned. It was the prayer that the matter may be restored to the file of ld. AO to decide the issue involved in the appeal afresh so that the assessee could be able to produce all the evidence to substantiate its claim.
4. In reply, ld Sr DR vehemently supported the orders of AO and ld. CIT(A).
I have considered the rival submissions. As it is noticed from the orders of the authorities below that the assessee could not comply with the notices issued by the ld. CIT(A) on various occasions as has been tabulated by the ld. CIT(A) in its order at page 4. Even the assessee was also failed to submit relevant documents to substantiate its claim before the AO. However, the ld. AR has made a request before the Bench that if the assessee is given one more opportunity to represent its case before the ld. AO, the assessee could be able to provide all the details before the ld. Assessing Officer to substantiate its claim. The reason for non-appearance before the AO and not filing of return is that one of the partners expired in July, 2017 i.e. just after the closure of the financial year and before filing of the return. This being so, in the interest of justice, I grant the assessee one more opportunity to substantiate its claim before the ld. AO by restoring the issues in the appeal to the file of ld. AO for adjudicating afresh after providing the assessee adequate opportunity of being heard. The assessee shall cooperate in the readjudication proceeding before the AO positively.