Loading judgment…
Facts
The assessment was completed under Section 144 r.w.s 147 of the Act, bringing to tax Rs. 36,00,000/- cash deposited in the bank account due to lack of plausible explanation from the assessee. The CIT(A) dismissed the assessee's appeal.
Held
The Tribunal found merit in the assessee's submission regarding a reasonable cause for delayed filing and admitted the appeal. Given that no findings were recorded on merit, the matter was remitted to the AO for a fresh decision.
Key Issues
Whether the AO should decide the matter afresh after providing a reasonable opportunity to the assessee, considering the explanation for the cash deposit.
Sections Cited
144, 147, 148, 54B
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण,च"डीगढ़ "यायपीठ “एस.एम.सी” , च"डीगढ़ IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, CHANDIGARH BENCHES, “SMC” CHANDIGARH HEARING THROUGH: PHYSICAL MODE "ी िव"म "सह यादव, लेखा सद"य BEFORE: SHRI. VIKRAM SINGH YADAV, AM आयकर अपील सं./ िनधा"रण वष" / Assessment Year : 2012-13 Davinder Jeet Singh, बनाम The ITO S/o Amrik Singh Vill Ward-1, Gobindgarh Gurdhanpur P.O. Tarkheri Tehsil: Sirhind Amloh Distt: Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab-147203 "ायी लेखा सं./PAN NO: AEEPS6831B अपीलाथ"/Appellant ""यथ"/Respondent िनधा"रती क" ओर से/Assessee by : None राज"व क" ओर से/ Revenue by : Shri Vivek Vardhan, JCIT सुनवाई क" तारीख/Date of Hearing : 01/01/2025 उदघोषणा क" तारीख/Date of Pronouncement : 09/01/2025 आदेश/Order
PER VIKRAM SINGH YADAV, AM
This is an appeal filed by the Assessee against the order of the Ld. CIT(A)/ NFAC Delhi dt. 22/08/2022 pertaining to Assessment Year 2012-13.
Briefly the facts of the case are that the assessment in this case was completed under section 144 r.w.s 147 of the Act vide order dt. 28/11/2019 wherein an amount of Rs. 36,00,000/- being the cash deposited in the bank account has been brought to tax in absence of any plausible explanation submitted by the assessee explaining the nature and source of the cash deposit. Subsequently, the assessee carried the matter in appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) who has dismissed the appeal of the assessee and sustained the findings of the AO.
Against the said order. the assessee is in appeal before us.
None appeared on behalf of the assessee nor was any adjournment application moved. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, it was decided that no useful purpose would be served in adjourning the matter any further and it was decided to decide the matter based on material available on the record.
The Ld. DR is heard who has relied on the orders of the lower authorities.
I have heard the Ld. DR and perused the material available on the record. As per the affidavit of the assessee placed on record, the proceedings under section 148 were initiated by ITO, Ward-1, Mandi Gobindgarh for the impugned Assessment Year and thereafter, on 26/11/2019, an ex-parte order was passed by the AO for the reason that assessee has neither filed any reply nor appeared on the scheduled date of hearing. It was submitted by the assessee that no proper notice was served upon him and due to non service of notice, he could not attend proceedings before AO. Thereafter, the assessee preferred an appeal and again, it has been claimed that no proper opportunity was afforded to the assessee. It was further submitted that order of the Ld. CIT(A) was merely uploaded on the IT Portal and was not delivered to the assessee and he came to know of the same on 25/01/2024 when the hard copy of the penalty order were received by him. And thereafter the assessee took the necessary steps and filed an appeal before this Tribunal. It was submitted that due to non service of the impugned order, the assessee was prevented by sufficient cause for the delayed filing of the present appeal, hence the same may be condoned and the appeal may be admitted for adjudication.
It was further submitted that as far as the merits of the case is concerned, he has the necessary evidence in terms of sale deed of agriculture land and other documents and can demonstrate the source of the cash deposit of Rs. 36,00,000/- being the sale proceeds of rural agriculture land as well as the agriculture income. Further, it has been submitted that he has purchased land situated at Village Kaillo and Bhatolia Tehsil & Distt. Hoshiarpur in the very next month and he is also eligible for exemption under section 54B of the Act and it was submitted that an opportunity may be provided to him to appear before the AO and he gives his assurance that he will comply with the speedy disposal of the matter before the AO.
I find merit in the submissions so made by the assessee in his affidavit, the contents of which remain unrebutted before me and find that the assessee has a reasonable cause for the delay in filing the present appeal and the same is hereby admitted. Further, given that no finding has been recorded on merit and assessee cannot be condemned unheard especially where he claims that he has the necessary explanation and documentation explaining the nature and source of deposit, the matter is remitted to the file of the AO to decide the same a fresh as per law after providing reasonable opportunity to the assessee.
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.