M/S. JET BUILD HOUSING & INFRASTRUCTURE PVT. LTD.,MUMBAI vs. ITO-12(3)(1), MUMBAI

The appellant craves your honours leave to add to, amend or to withdraw any of the above grounds of appeal on or before final hearing.”

Briefly stated, the assessee company had filed its return of income for A.Y 2016-17 on 17.10.2016, declaring a total income of Rs.13,97,650/-. The return of income filed by the assessee was processed as such under Sec. 143(1) of the Act. Subsequently, the case of the assessee was selected for scrutiny assessment under Sec. 143(2) of the Act.

As the assessee in the course of the assessment proceedings neither complied with the notices issued under Sec. 143(2) and Sec. 142(1) of the Act nor furnished the documents that were called for by the A.O, therefore, the latter framed the assessment vide his order passed under Sec. 144, dated 18.12.2018 at an income of Rs.1,23,64,020/-.

Before us, the ld. Authorized Representative (for short „A.R‟) elaborating on the reason due to which the assessee had failed to submit the requisite details as were called for in the course of the assessment proceedings, submitted, that the said lapse had occasioned because the accountant of the assessee company who was in possession of the relevant details had at the said relevant point of time remained absent from office for a long time. It was further submitted by the ld. A.R that as the addition u/s 68 of Rs. 1,09,66,369/- made by the A.O under Sec. 68 had been summarily endorsed by the CIT(A) by way of an ex-parte order, therefore, the matter in all fairness be restored to the file of the CIT(A) with a direction to dispose off the appeal after affording an opportunity of being heard to the assessee.

Per contra, the ld. Departmental Representative (for short „D.R‟) did not object to the request of the assessee‟s counsel for restoring of the matter to the file of the CIT(A).

We have heard the authorized representatives for both the parties, perused the orders of the lower authorities and the material available on record. As is discernible from the record, the assessee had in the course of the proceedings before the lower authorities adopted a lackadaisical approach and had neither put up an appearance nor furnished the requisite details as were called for by them. However, finding some force in the reason due to which the assessee had failed to furnish the requisite details before the lower authorities, coupled with the fact that the CIT(A) had summarily endorsed the observations of the A.O and had upheld the addition, we are of the considered view that in all fairness the matter be restored to the file of the CIT(A), with a direction, to dispose off the appeal afresh after affording an opportunity of being heard to the assessee.

The appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes in terms of our aforesaid observations.