SHRI P. RAJASEKAR,TRICHY vs. ACIT, CIRCLE - 3 (1), TRICHY

The assessee filed this appeal against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-1, Trichy in dated 07.06.2019 for the assessment year 2013-14.

Shri P. Rajasekar, the assessee is a civil contractor, filed his return of income for the assessment year 2013-14. Against the original assessment order, the assessee filed an appeal before the CIT(A). The CIT(A) issued notices on various dates and final opportunity was given to the assessee on 06.03.2019. On 06.03.2019, neither the assessee appeared nor sent his representation or sought adjournment and no documents was filed. Therefore, the Ld.CIT(A) dismissed the appeal. Aggrieved against that order, the assessee filed this appeal.

The Ld.AR submitted that the Ld.CIT(A) dismissed the appeal without adjudicating the issues and hence pleaded that one more opportunity may be given to the assessee before the Ld.CIT(A), so that the issues are decided on merits. Per contra, the Ld.DR strongly objected for remitting the matter back to the Ld.CIT(A)

We heard the rival submissions through video conferencing and gone through the relevant material. From the order of the Ld.CIT(A), it is evident that the assessee has failed to pursue the appeal before the CIT(A) and hence the Ld.CIT(A) dismissed the appeal without adjudicating the issues in appeal on merits. Therefore, we are of the view that in the interests of justice, one more opportunity should be given to the assessee. In view of the above, we set aside the order of the CIT(A) and remit the matter back to the file of the CIT(A) for a fresh consideration. The assessee shall place relevant material before the CIT(A) and actively pursue his appeal as required by the CIT(A) in accordance with law. The CIT(A), on due examination of them and after affording due opportunity to the assessee, shall decide the issues in accordance with law.

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