AMARKUMAR ANUPBHAI DESAI,NADIAD vs. I.T.O. WARD 1, NADIAD , NADIAD

Thea assessment order passed u/s 144 of Income Tax Act by the Assessing Officer and confirmed by the first appellate authority u/s 250 is bad in law and deserved to be uncalled for.

The appellate authority has erred in law and on facts in making and confirming respectively the addition of RS.29,29,500/-, sustained by the first appellate authority. The same deserves to be deleted.

The appellant craves to reserve his right to add, alter, amend, or delete any ground of appeal during the course of hearing.”

The brief facts of the case are that the assessee filed his return of income declaring a total income of ₹86,540/- along with exempt agricultural income of ₹29,29,500/-. In the course of scrutiny assessment, various notices of hearing were served on the assessee, but the remained un-complied with. Finally, on 27.11.2019, the assessee filed partial submissions and sought an adjournment. However, the Assessing Officer noted that there was still no full compliance by the assessee, and therefore a show cause notice proposing addition/disallowance was issued on 22.12.2019, requiring a reply by 24.12.2019. In response, the assessee stated that he is a landlord and derives agricultural income. The Assessing Officer required the assessee to furnish details of his agricultural income and cash deposits during the demonetization period. The assessee presented a cash book and submitted that that the cash on hand and deposits were sourced from agricultural income, with some cash having been retained for use by small farmers. However, the Assessing Officer observed that while the assessee deposited ₹8,36,229/- in cash during F.Y. 2015-16, the deposits increased significantly to ₹51,27,000/- during F.Y. 2016-17. The assessee claimed to have made cash sales of ₹25,18,600/- and *42,38,700/- in those respective years. However, despite repeated opportunities, the Assessing Officer noted that the assessee failed to furnish supporting documentary evidence such as agricultural produce sale bills or related receipts to substantiate the claim of having earned any exempt agricultural income. Although landholding details were eventually provided by the assessee, however, the Assessing Officer rejected the assessee's claim of agricultural income amounting to ₹29,29,500/- as exempt income due to lack of sale documentation and proof of agricultural activity. Accordingly, the agricultural income which was claimed as exempt by the assessee was held to be unexplained income and added back to the total income of the assessee.

In appeal, Ld. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal of the assessee on account of non-appearance, with the following observations: "3.2 During the appellate proceedings, the appellant was granted many opportunities for presenting his case and filing detailed submission in support of various grounds of appeal taken by him. However, on none of the occasions, the appellant chose to file a submission or filed any documents, evidences or even requested for adjournment. It may be noted that in the faceless appeal environment, all the notices are issued to the appellant at the email address provided by him, and also, all the submission are supposed to be filed online through the appeal module available to the appellant online in his e-filing portal. In this electronic communication environment, the emails/notices/letters_are routed through the NFAC, and the appellant is expected to respond through the same environment.

3 Having noted thus, it is a fact that the appellant chose not to submit anything in response to various notices issued to him thereby giving him ample opportunity of hearing, which is also in accordance to principle of natural justice. The table below list the various dates of issuing of notices, dates of hearing/submission granted to the appellant and the response of the appellant: Sl. No. Date of fixing/notice 1. 25.01.2021 2. 28.03.2024 3. 16.04.2024 4. 10.05.2024 Date of hearing 09.02.2021 12.04.2024 01.05.2024 27.05.2024 Reasons offered by appellant No compliance No compliance No compliance No compliance

4 It is very clear form the above table that the appellant has chosen not to submit anything in support of his various grounds of appeal. In such a scenario, I am of the considered opinion that the appellant does not have anything to say or have anything to offer to the appellate authority in support of his various grounds of appeal, and thus, that the appellant does not want to press any of the grounds of appeal. In light of this, I do not see any reason to interfere with the findings of the AO as enumerated in the assessment order.

5 I, therefore, dismiss all the grounds of appeal filed by the assessee. In the result, the appeal is dismissed.”

The assessee is in appeal before us against the aforesaid order passed by Ld. CIT(A), confirming the addition made by the Assessing Officer. Before us, at the time of hearing, none appeared on behalf of the assessee and an adjournment application was submitted. Further, it is also noted that the appeal is time barred by 228 days and no application for condonation of delay or supporting Affidavit has been furnished by the assessee before us. However, on looking into the case records, we observe that no appearance was made by the assessee before the Assessing Officer. However, Ld. CIT(A) proceeded to close the appellate proceedings, without discussing the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee and dismissed the appeal of assessee on account of non-appearance. Further, on perusal of the notices issued by the Ld. CIT(A), it is seen that the first notice was issued on 25.01.2021 i.e. during the pandemic period and the subsequent notices were issued within a short span of one and a half months between 28.03.2024 to 10.05.2024 and accordingly, in our view, looking into the short span of successive notices, the assessee did not get effective opportunity of presenting his case on merits. Accordingly, looking into the quantum of additions made in the hands of the assessee, in the interest of justice, the case is hereby directed to be restored to the file of Assessing Officer for de-novo consideration.

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. This Order pronounced in Open Court on 12/08/2025 Ahmedabad; Dated 12/08/2025 TANMAY, Sr. PSआदेश की प्रतिलिपि अग्रेषित/