VISHWABANDHU DAHYABHAI PATEL,GANDHINAGAR vs. THE ITO, WARD-4, GANDHINAGAR

The sole ground raised by the assessee is as follows :

“The Learned CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in confirming the addition made by AO of Rs.63,81,060/- being the credit entries in Bank considering the same as unexplained, under section 69A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, such addition is requested to be deleted.”

Briefly stated facts are that the case of the assessee was selected for scrutiny based on information in the ITBA system, indicating cash and other credits totaling Rs.63,81,060/- in the assessee’s HDFC Bank account. The assessee neither filed the return of income in response to notice u/s 142(1) nor responded to subsequent show cause notices. Consequently, the Assessing Officer framed the assessment u/s 144 of the Act, treating the deposits as unexplained under Section 69A of the Act.

Aggrieved by the order of the Assessing Officer, the assessee filed an appeal before the Ld. CIT(A). However, the appeal was dismissed due to non-compliance and failure to respond to notices issued by the Ld. CIT(A) during appellate proceedings.

Aggrieved by the order of the Ld. CIT(A), the assessee is now in appeal before the Tribunal.

Before us, the Ld. AR submitted that the notices were sent by the Ld. CIT(A) to an incorrect email address that did not belong to him and was not mentioned in Form No. 35. The Ld. AR submitted that, in fact, the assessee had opted for physical mode of communication but did not receive any such notice or order in physical form, and up on discovering the dismissal of the appeal by the Ld. CIT(A) due to non-compliance before him, he has now approached the Tribunal seeking an opportunity to present his case on merits.

We have considered the submissions and perused the orders of the lower authorities. It is evident that the assessment was made ex-parte u/s 144 and the appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) was dismissed for non-compliance. However, the assessee has reasonably explained the circumstances leading to such non- compliance, including email communication errors. In our considered view, In the interest of justice, we are of the considered view that the assessee should be afforded an adequate opportunity to present his case. Accordingly, we set aside the assessment order and restore the matter to the file of the Assessing Officer for fresh adjudication. The Assessing Officer shall afford reasonable opportunity to the assessee to furnish necessary evidence in support of his claim, and thereafter pass a fresh order in accordance with law. The assessee is also directed to ensure timely compliance.

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.