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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal before the First Appellate Authority (FAA) against an assessment order. A typographical error in Form 35 led the FAA to dismiss the appeal on technical grounds without deciding the merits.
Held
The Tribunal held that the FAA should not have dismissed the appeal on a technicality. The case was remanded back to the FAA to decide the appeal on its merits, after the assessee files a corrected Form 35.
Key Issues
Whether an appeal can be dismissed on technical grounds (typographical error in Form 35) without deciding the merits, and whether the FAA should provide an opportunity to rectify such errors.
Sections Cited
250, 143(3), 144B, 50C, 143(1)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, B BENCH, PUNE
Before: Dr. MANISH BORAD & SHRI VINAY BHAMORE
आदेश/ORDER PER DR.MANISH BORAD, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER :
This appeal at the instance of assessee is directed against the order of Additional/JCIT(A) National Faceless Appeal Centre, (NFAC) Faridabad u/s 250 of the Income- tax Act, 1961, dated 13.12.2024
The Assessee has raised following grounds of appeal:-
1. The Id CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in dismissing appeal on technical ground without appreciating that appeal has been correctly filed and there was typographical mistake in Form 35 that ought to have been ignored. The appeal ought to have been decided on merits.
2. The Ld CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in confirming long term capital gains from sale of land at Rs. 4,81,43,302/- as against Rs. 10089526/- as computed by the appellant.
3. The Id CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in confirming the action under the provisions of Section 50C and adopting the sale consideration on the basis of stamp duty valuation when the valuation report of the DVO has been received and furnished before him.
4. The Id CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in confirming the action of not allowing cost of improvement as claimed by the appellant.
5. The appellant craves leave to add, alter, modify or substitute any ground of appeal at the time of hearing.
3. At the outset Ld. counsel for the assessee submitted that Ld. JCIT(A) has dismissed the assessee’s appeal only on the ground of a typographical error committed in Form 35 and thus prayed for providing one more opportunity to go before the First Apellant Authority (FAA) On the other hand Ld. DR did not oppose the request.
We have heard rival contentions and perused the record placed before us. The assessee which is a Private Limited Company has passed through scrutiny Proceedings for A.Y. 2022-23 and assessment order u/s 143(3) r.w.s.144B of the Act framed on 18.03.2024 assessing Income at Rs. 4,81,23,980/- arrived at after making addition of Rs. 3,80,53,780/- to the returned income of Rs. 1,00,70,200/- The assessee in order to challenge the additions made by Ld. AO filed an appeal before the First Appellant Authority (FAA) but in Form No. 35 apart from mentioning all necessary details correctly but in column No.2(A) which requires the details of the section and sub-section of the Income Tax Act under which the order passed has been appealed before First Appellant Authority (FAA), the assessee inadvertently mentioned section 143(1) in place of section 143(3) of the Act. We further notice that Ld. First Appellant Authority (FAA) did not deal with the merits of the case and directed the assessee to reapply the appeal with correct particulars.
Under the given facts and circumstances of the case we find that Ld. First Appellant Authority (FAA) has not dealt with the merits of the case solely on account of some technical reasons present in the NFAC system. However in the interest of justice and being fair to both the parties we direct the Ld. CIT(A) NFAC to admit the appeal of the assessee for adjudication and deal with the merits of the case and decide in accordance with law for which a fair and reasonable opportunity shall be provided to the assessee. The assessee is also directed to furnish the correct Form 35 on the first date of hearing and plead on merits of the case.
In result the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced on this 04th day of April, 2025.