MINABEN HEMANTSINH PARMAR,GANDHINAGAR vs. THE ITO, WARD-1, GANDHINAGAR

The present appeal has been filed by the Assessee against the order passed by the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi [hereinafter referred to as “CIT(A)’] dated 29.11.2024 arising out of the assessment order passed u/s.147 r.w.s 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (here-in-after referred to as “the Act”) relevant to the Assessment Year 2019-20.

The sole issue involved in this case is relating to the amount credited in the bank account of the assessee. The Assessing Officer treated the said credits as unaccounted income of the assessee. It has been the case of the assessee that the said credits were out of the maturity proceeds of FDR etc which were earlier standing in the name of the deceased husband of the assessee. That after the death of her husband, the said amount was credited to the account of the assessee being his nominee. The Assessing Officer treated the said amount as income of the assessee from undisclosed sources. The ld. Authorized Representative of the assessee has stated that the assessee being a lady was not aware of the nitty gritty of the income tax proceedings, and hence, could not explain the source of the credits in her bank account. The ld. Authorized Representative has further brought our attention to the impugned order of the CIT(A) to show that the ld. CIT(A), instead of adjudicating the appeal on merits, has dismissed the appeal on the ground that the assessee had not the deposited advance tax.

We have heard the rival contentions and gone through records. In this case, the ld. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal of the assessee for want of deposit of advance tax on the income assessed by the Assessing Officer. However, the assessee has in this case disputed the very validity of the addition made by the Assessing Officer. Under such circumstances, there was no need to deposit advance tax on such additions. Therefore, the action of the CIT(A) in dismissing the appeal for want of deposit of advance tax is not justified, as the CIT(A) under such circumstances was supposed to decide the appeal on merits. Even as contended by the Ld. A.R. of the assessee, the credits in the bank account of the assessee were out of the deposits made by the deceased husband of the assessee and she had received such deposit being her legal heir. Under the circumstances, we feel that the assessee has a fair case on merits. In our view, the assessee deserves to be given a further opportunity to present her case before the Assessing Officer. We, accordingly, set aside the impugned order of the ld. CIT(A) and restore the matter back to the file of Assessing Officer for assessment afresh on this issue. It is directed that the assessee will provide and furnish the necessary evidences/documents before the Assessing Officer.