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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against an order passed by the CIT(A) which dismissed the assessee's appeal on the grounds of non-compliance. The assessee contended that no notices of hearing were served and that they had submitted written arguments. The CIT(A) dismissed the appeal without adjudicating on merits.
Held
The Tribunal held that the CIT(A) has no power to dismiss an appeal for non-prosecution and must decide the appeal on its merits. The High Court's decision in Pr.CIT(Central) Vs. Premkumar Arjundas Luthra was cited as precedent.
Key Issues
Whether the CIT(A) is empowered to dismiss an appeal for non-prosecution without adjudicating the grounds of appeal on merits.
Sections Cited
250, 143(3), 251(1)(a), 251(1)(b), 251(2), 246A
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, PUNE BENCHES “A” :: PUNE
Before: MS.ASTHA CHANDRA & DR.DIPAK P. RIPOTE
Assessment Year: 2015-16 M/s.Kubera Dal & Besan V Dy.CIT, Millsz, s Circle-5, Pune. 21 to 24, Marketyard, Gultekadi, Pune – 411037. PAN: AAKFK3139J Appellant/ Assessee Respondent / Revenue Assessee by Shri Prateek Jha – Advocate Revenue by Shri Ratnakar Bhimrao Shelake – (on Rotation Duty) Date of hearing 23/12/2025 Date of pronouncement 23/12/2025 आदेश/ ORDER
PER DR. DIPAK P. RIPOTE, AM:
This is an appeal filed by the Assessee against the order of ld.Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeal)[NFAC] passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the A.Y.2015-16 dated 24.02.2025 emanating from the Assessment Order passed under section 143(3) of the Act, dated 28.12.2017. The Assessee has raised the following grounds of appeal :
[A] “1. The Ld CIT(A), NFAC, erred in dismissing the appeal filed by the assessee on the ground of non compliance without appreciating that none of the notices of hearing was served on the assessee.
The Ld CIT(A), NFAC, erred in not appreciating that the assessee had submitted Written Arguments dated 01.08.2018, 07.09.2019 and 03.10.2019 before the Ld CIT(A)-4, Pune, who had issued notices of hearing in this appeal.
The Ld CIT(A), NFAC, erred in not appreciating that the addition of Rs.1,22,38,390/- was made in respect of expenses incurred on construction of factory building during the year ignoring the fact that no such expense was actually incurred and no factory building was constructed during the year and the Ld AO had no evidence whatsoever to demonstrate that the assessee had actually incurred those expenses.
4. The Ld CIT(A), NFAC, erred in dismissing the appeal without appreciating that the addition Rs.1,22,38,390/- was made on the basis of notings which were false and fabricated and the accountant of the assessee had affirmed an Affidavit in this regard and the Affidavit was submitted before the Ld CIT(A)-4, Pune.
The Ld CIT(A), NFAC, erred in not appreciating that the amount of Rs.38,840/- was not received by the assessee during the year and no communication was received from MSEB informing the assessee that this amount had accrued to the assessee as interest during the A Y 2015-16.
The above grounds of appeal
are without prejudice to one another.
7. The appellant craves leave to furnish Additional Evidence which may be relevant to the above Grounds of Appeal in course of the appeal proceedings.
8. The appellant craves leave to amend or alter any of the above Grounds of Appeal or to add new Grounds of Appeal during the course of appeal proceedings.” Findings & Analysis :
2. We have heard both the parties and perused the records. In this case, ld.AR submitted that appeal was filed in Form No.35 against the assessment order on 19.01.2018 which was the pre- 2 [A] faceless period. Ld.AR further submitted that Assessee had filed elaborate submission before the Jurisdictional ld.CIT(A). Ld.AR submitted that the ld.CIT(A)[NFAC] has dismissed the appeal of the assessee for non-prosecution, without considering the submission filed by assessee earlier. Ld.AR also submitted that ld.CIT(A) has not adjudicated the grounds of appeal raised by Assessee. Ld.AR requested that the case may set-aside to the ld.CIT(A).
3. Ld.Departmental Represnetative(ld.DR) for the Revenue relied on the order of the Assessing Officer and ld.CIT(A).
In this case, Assessment Order for A.Y.2015-16 was passed on 28.12.2017 under section 143(3) of the Act, assessing the total income at Rs.1,51,47,230/-.
5. Aggrieved by the assessment order, assessee filed appeal before ld.CIT(A) in Form No.35 on 19.01.2018. Copy of Form No.35 is on record. However, ld.CIT(A) dismissed the appeal of the Assessee stating that Assessee has not filed any reply to the notices issued by ld.CIT(A). Ld.CIT(A) has not adjudicated the grounds of appeal raised by Assessee.
6. In this case, it has been pleaded that assessee had filed submission before Jurisdictional ld.CIT(A). Be it as it may be, it is a fact that the ld.CIT(A) has not adjudicated the grounds of appeal raised by Assessee on merits.
7. The Hon’ble Bombay High Court has held in the case of Pr.CIT(Central) Vs. Premkumar Arjundas Luthra (HUF) (Bombay)/[2017] 297 CTR 614 (Bombay) as under : Quote, “8.From the aforesaid provisions, it is very clear once an appeal is preferred before the CIT(A), then in disposing of the appeal, he is obliged to make such further inquiry that he thinks fit or direct the Assessing Officer to make further inquiry and report the result of the same to him as found in Section 250(4) of the Act. Further Section 250(6) of the Act obliges the CIT(A) to dispose of an appeal in writing after stating the points for determination and then render a decision on each of the points which arise for consideration with reasons in support. Section 251(1)(a) and (b) of the Act provide that while disposing of appeal the CIT(A) would have the power to confirm, reduce, enhance or annul an assessment and/or penalty. Besides Explanation to sub-section (2) of Section 251 of the Act also makes it clear that while considering the appeal, the CIT(A) would be entitled to consider and decide any issue arising in the proceedings before him in appeal filed for its consideration, even if the issue is not raised by the appellant in its appeal before the CIT(A). Thus once an assessee files an appeal under Section 246A of the Act, it is not open to him as of right to withdraw or not press the appeal. In fact the CIT(A) is obliged to dispose of the appeal on merits. In fact with effect from 1st June, 2001 the power of the CIT(A) to set aside the order of the Assessing Officer and restore it to the Assessing Officer for passing a fresh order stands withdrawn. Therefore, it would be noticed that the powers of the CIT(A) is coterminous with that of the Assessing Officer i.e. he can do all that Assessing Officer could do. Therefore just as it is not open to the Assessing Officer to not complete the assessment by allowing the assessee to withdraw its return of income, it is not open to the assessee 4 in appeal to withdraw and/or the CIT(A) to dismiss the appeal on [A] account of non-prosecution of the appeal by the assessee. This is amply clear from the Section 251(1)(a) and (b) and Explanation to Section 251(2) of the Act which requires the CIT(A) to apply his mind to all the issues which arise from the impugned order before him whether or not the same has been raised by the appellant before him. Accordingly, the law does not empower the CIT(A) to dismiss the appeal for non- prosecution as is evident from the provisions of the Act.” Unquote. 7.1 Thus, the Hon’ble Bombay High Court has categorically held that ld.CIT(A) has to decide the appeal on merit and ld.CIT(A) does not have any power to dismiss appeal for non-prosecution.
In view of the above, in the interest of justice, we set-aside the order of the ld.CIT(A) to ld.CIT(A) for denovo adjudication. Ld.CIT(A) shall provide opportunity to the assessee. Assessee shall file all the necessary documents before the ld.CIT(A). Accordingly, grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are allowed for statistical purpose.
In the result, appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purpose. Order pronounced in the open Court on 23 December, 2025.