SUBASH NUMBURU,HYDERABAD vs. DEPUTY COMMISSION OF INCOME TAX, HYDERABAD

The brief facts of the case are that assessee is an individual and is one of the partners in the partnership firms viz. M/s. ANS Acqua Services, M/s. Sumeru Infrastructure Park and Director of M/s. Mas Aqua Technicks Pvt Ltd, deriving income from business and other sources. The assessee had filed his return of income u/s 139(1) of the Act on 31.10.2019 declaring total income of Rs.82,33,440/- apart from declaring agricultural income of Rs.27,66,580/- and exempt income of Rs.54,98,272/-. A search and seizure operation u/s 132 of the Act was conducted in M/s Sumeru Infrastructre Park, wherein the assessee is working as one of the partners.

Feeling aggrieved with the order of Assessing Officer, assessee carried the matter before ld.CIT(A), who dismissed the appeal of assessee on account of non-prosecution and on merits.

Feeling aggrieved with the order of ld.CIT(A), assessee is now in appeal before us.

Before us, ld.AR submitted that the learned lower authorities have decided the issue without considering the explanation offered by the assessee and that assessee failed to appear due to unavoidable circumstances. Ld.AR further submitted that as the assessee has sufficient cause from putting in appearance before the ld.CIT(A), matter may kindly be remitted back to the authorities below for afresh adjudication.

Per contra, the ld.DR has raised objection for remanding the matter back to the file of lower authorities.

We have heard the rival contentions of both the parties and perused the material available on record and also the order passed by the lower authorities. On perusal of the impugned order passed by ld.CIT(A), we found that ld.CIT(A) passed an exparte order confirming the action of the Assessing Officer, as the assessee failed to appear despite granting of sufficient opportunities. In para 6.1. of the ld.CIT(A)’s order, clearly mentioned the details of various opportunities granted to the assessee. On perusal of the order of ld.CIT(A) on merits, we found that the ld.CIT(A) has failed to consider the explanation given by the assessee that the assessee and the family members of the assessee are having the substantial land holdings of more than 200 acres of land income from which cash was available to the tune of Rs.73,34,200/-. As the explanation of the assessee has not been considered by the ld.CIT(A) and the order of Assessing Officer had been confirmed without appreciating the record, we deem it appropriate to remand back the matter to the file of ld.CIT(A) with a direction to consider the explanation offered by the assessee and the documents placed on record before us after affording sufficient opportunities of hearing to the assessee in accordance with the law.

The assessee shall be at liberty to file documents, if any, as required for proving his case and the ld.CIT(A) shall consider the evidences, if any, filed by the assessee. Needless to say the ld.CIT(A) shall examine those documents / evidence filed by the assessee and also the other documents available on record. After considering the documents filed by the assessee and the submissions made by the assessee, the ld.CIT(A) shall pass a detailed speaking order dealing with the contentions of the assessee. We have not adjudicated the other grounds on merits as we are setting aside the orders passed by the lower authorities to the file of ld.CIT(A) for fresh adjudication. The assessee is directed to appear before the ld.CIT(A) and cooperate in early hearing of the appeal.

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