KUNDAL TALUKA SAHAKARI KHAREDI VIKRI SANGH LTD.,SINDHUDURG vs. INCOME-TAX OFFICER, WARD -2(3), SINDHUDURG

Briefly stated, the facts of the case for the A.Y. 2009-10 are that the assessee filed its return declaring total income at Nil. The Assessing Officer completed the assessment by disallowing the deduction claimed u/s 80P of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’). The ld. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal of assessee in limine.

I have heard the ld. DR in Virtual Court and gone through the relevant material on record. There is no appearance from the side of the assessee despite service of notice. It is seen that the ld. CIT(A) passed ex-parte order without discussing merits of the grounds and thus dismissed the appal in limine. This course of action is not open to the ld. CIT(A). If the assessee was absent, the ld. CIT(A) was supposed to dispose of the appeal on merits even though ex-parte. Considering the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case, I set aside the impugned order and restore the matter to the file of the ld. CIT(A) for deciding the appeal on merits after allowing a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the assessee.

The ld. DR fairly admitted that the facts and circumstances of the appeal for the A.Y. 2007-08 are mutatis mutandis similar to the other year involved here. Following the view taken hereinabove, I set aside the impugned order with similar directions as given for the A.Y. 2009-10.

In the result, both the appeals are allowed for statistical purposes.