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Facts
The assessee did not file a return for A.Y. 2017-18, leading to a reassessment under Section 147 r.w.s. 144 based on information of income. The Assessing Officer and subsequently the CIT(A) passed ex-parte orders as the assessee's Chartered Accountant failed to respond to notices due to lack of knowledge of proceedings.
Held
The Tribunal admitted additional evidence from the assessee, noting sufficient cause for non-filing previously. In the interest of justice, the Tribunal set aside the order of the ld. CIT(A) and remanded the matter for de novo adjudication, directing the ld. CIT(A) to grant the assessee a proper opportunity.
Key Issues
Whether the ex-parte assessment and appellate orders were valid given the assessee's claim of lack of knowledge and reliance on a defaulting consultant, and whether the additions made to income were correctly sustained.
Sections Cited
250, 147, 144, 148
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, PUNE BENCHES “A” :: PUNE
Before: DR.DIPAK P. RIPOTE & SHRI VINAY BHAMORE
This is an appeal filed by the assessee against the order of ld.Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeal)[NFAC], Delhi passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 dated 20.08.2024 for the A.Y.2017-18 emanating from the Assessment Order under section 147 r.w.s 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, dated 31.03.2022. The Assessee has raised the following grounds of appeal :
“Aggrieved by the Order dated 20/08/2024 passed under section 250 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ('Act') by the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) (the learned CIT(A)) for AY 2017-18, the Assessee/Appellant has preferred an appeal before your Honour. In this regard, the Appellant wishes to raise following grounds of appeal, which are independent and without prejudice to each other:
1. Ground 1: Challenging the validity of ex-parte order 1.1 In the facts and circumstances of the case, the Learned CIT(A) erred in completing the reassessment under section 147 r.w.s. 144 of the Income Tax Act without affording the appellant a fair opportunity to present his case. 1.2 The Appellant submits that the non-responsiveness on continuing occasions or non-attendance of any notices issued during the course of appellate proceedings is neither deliberate nor due to negligence but was due to lack of knowledge of the Income Tax Proceedings and complete dependency on my earlier consultant. 1.3 The Appellant prays before your Honour to admit the present appeal and adjudicate the same on merits of the case.
2. Ground 2: Income incorrectly assessed 2.1 In the facts and circumstances of the case, the learned CIT(A) erred in sustaining the addition of INR 34,98,100 to the total income. 2.2 The Appellant submits that the learned CIT(A) has erred in considering adhoc expenses of 50% towards the commission income earned during the year and the same ought to have been considered on actual basis. 2.3 The Appellant prays that the addition sustained by the learned CIT(A) ought to be deleted. The Appellant craves leave to add, alter, vary, omit, substitute or amend the above grounds of appeal
, at any time before or at, the time of hearing of the appeal, so as to enable the Hon'ble Tribunal to decide this appeal according to law.” 2 Submission of ld.AR :
2. The ld.AR for the Assessee filed a paper book with petition for admission of additional evidence. Ld. AR invited our attention to the Affidavit of the assessee. In the Affidavit, it has been submitted by Assesssee that the assessee had sought assistance from Chartered Accountant Gund Gawade and Company. The said Chartered Accountant firm had given its email id on the e-portal as Assessee’s e-mail id. The Chartered Accountant firm failed to reply notices.
The Assessee humbly submitted that both Assessing Officer and ld. CIT(A) has passed exparte order. Ld. AR requested that one more opportunity may be provided in order to meet ends of justice.
Submission of ld.DR : 3. Ld.DR for the Revenue relied on the order of AO and the CIT(A).
Findings &Analysis : 4. We have heard both the parties and perused the records. In this case, Assessee had not filed the return of income for A.Y.2017-
The Assessing Officer received information from income-tax portal that Assessee is in receipt of Rs.61,39,734/-. Based on the 3 said information, AO issued notice u/s.148 dated 27.03.2021. Since income of the assessee at Rs.61,39,730/-. Aggrieved by the assessment order, Assessee filed appeal before ld.CIT(A).
Ld.CIT(A) issued four notices as listed in the order. Since Assessee failed to submit reply in response to the notices, ld.CIT(A) adjudicated based on the Statement of Facts filed along with Appeal Memo.
Before us, ld.AR submitted that due to mistake of the Chartered Accountant, Assessee could not reply the various notices.
The Assessee has filed additional evidence which contains Profit and Loss Account, Balance Sheet, Comparative Charts for A.Y. 2020-21. These documents goes to the root of the additions made by the Assessing Officer. Therefore, since there was sufficient cause for not filing the documents before ld.CIT(A) or Assessing Officer, we admit the additional evidence. 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 grant opportunity to the Assessee.
Accordingly, the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are allowed for statistical purpose.
In the result, Appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purpose. Order pronounced in the open Court on 29th Aug, 2025.