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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal against an order of the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) for AY 2018-19. The appeal to the Tribunal was delayed by one day, and the assessee had not initially filed a condonation petition. The CIT(A) had dismissed the assessee's appeal without examining its merits, relying solely on the Assessing Officer's order.
Held
The Tribunal condoned the one-day delay in filing the appeal, accepting that the assessee was prevented from filing it within the stipulated time. In the interest of natural justice, the matter was remitted back to the file of the CIT(A) for a fresh disposal on merits, without being influenced by the earlier order. The assessee was cautioned to cooperate with the CIT(A) proceedings.
Key Issues
1. Condonation of a one-day delay in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. 2. Whether the CIT(A) was justified in dismissing the assessee's appeal without considering its merits.
Sections Cited
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘SMC’ BENCH, KOLKATA
Before: Shri Duvvuru RL Reddy, Vice-(KZ)
Appearances by: Shri C. Rai, C.A., appeared on behalf of the assessee Shri Susanta Saha, Addl. CIT, Sr. D.R., appeared on behalf of the Revenue Date of concluding the hearing: June 25, 2025 Date of pronouncing the order: June 26, 2025 O R D E R
The present appeal is directed at the instance of assessee against the order of ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi dated 27th September 2024 passed for Assessment Year 2018-19.
The appeal is time barred by only one day in filing the appeal by the assessee. However, the assessee did not file condonation petition for delay in filing the appeal. When the assessee came to 1 (A.Y. 2018-2019) Nirmal Kumar Roy know about the order passed by the ld. CIT(Appeals), the assessee approached the ld. A.R. to prefer an appeal, due to that there was a delay of 1 day in filing the appeal before the Tribunal.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, I am of the view that the assessee was prevented in filing the appeal within the stipulated time. Therefore, I am inclined to condone the delay of 1 day. Hence the delay is condoned.
The contention of the ld. Counsel for the assessee is that the ld. CIT(Appeals) dismissed the appeal of the assessee without going into the merit of the case and only by relying on the order of ld. Assessing Officer. He, therefore, pleaded to set aside the orders passed by the revenue authorities.
On the other hand, ld. Departmental Representative submitted that sufficient opportunity was being provided to the assessee but the assessee failed to substantiate his claim. Therefore, the ld. CIT(Appeals) has no other option except dismissing the appeal and he pleaded to uphold the order passed by the ld. CIT(Appeals).
I have heard both the sides and perused the material available on record. By considering the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case and in order to ensure the principle of natural justice, I am of the view that it is a fit case to provide one more opportunity to the assessee. Therefore, I remit the matter back to the file of ld. CIT(Appeals) with a direction to dispose of the (A.Y. 2018-2019) Nirmal Kumar Roy appeal without any inference on the observations of earlier order passed by him. At the same breath, I also hereby caution the assessee to promptly co-operate with the proceedings before the Ld. CIT(Appeals) failing which the Ld. CIT(Appeals) shall be at liberty to pass appropriate order in accordance with law and merits of the case, based on the materials available on the record. Thus, the grounds raised by the assessee in the appeal are allowed for statistical purposes.
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open Court on 26/06/2025.