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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against the order of the CIT(A) which dismissed the assessee's appeal against additions made by the Assessing Officer. The appeal was filed late by 47 days. The assessee's accountant was out of station, leading to the delay. The Tribunal condoned the delay in the interest of justice.
Held
The Tribunal noted that the assessee was not aware of online proceedings and lived in a village with no internet facility, leading to negligence in pursuing the case. The Tribunal set aside the order of the CIT(A) and remanded the matter back to the AO for fresh adjudication, directing the assessee to submit relevant details and documents.
Key Issues
Whether the delay in filing the appeal can be condoned and whether the matter should be remanded to the AO for fresh adjudication after considering the specific circumstances of the assessee.
Sections Cited
250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, 143(3) of the Act, 40(a)(ia), 143(1) of the I.T. Act, 143(2) of the LT. Act, 44AB of the Act
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, RAJKOT BENCH,
Before: DR. ARJUN LAL SAINI & SHRI DINESH MOHAN SINHA
(�नधा�रणवष� / Assessment Year: (2012-13) (Hybrid Hearing) Ashokbhai Devjibhai Patel Vs. Income Tax Officer, wd – 2(1)(1), C/o. M/s. Jay Ganesh Petroleum, Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax Mitana-Morbi – 363611 Rajkot-1 Aayakar Bhavan, Race Course Ring Road, Rajkot – 360001 �थायीलेखासं./जीआइआरसं./PAN/GIR No.: ACNPP7584K (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by : Shri Brijesh Parekh, Ld. AR Respondent by : Shri Abhimanyu Singh Yadav, Ld. Sr. DR Date of Hearing : 12/06/2025 Date of Pronouncement : 06/08/2025 आदेश / O R D E R PER DINESH MOHAN SINHA, JM:
Captioned appeal filed by the assessee, pertaining to Assessment Year 2012-13, is directed against the order passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeal), dated 20.12.2024, which in turn arises out of an order passed by the Assessing Officer, u/s. 143(3) of the Act, on 27.03.2015.
Grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are as follows:
1) The Ld.A.O. erred in law and on facts in: a. Making the addition of Rs. 750000 in respect of unsecured loan received from J.M.Sanghvi. b. Making the disallowance of Rs. 134175 u/s 40(a)(ia) being the interest paid to Sundaram Finance Ltd. c. Making the disallowance of Rs. 500000 out of food and refreshment expenses. d. Making the disallowance of Rs. 120000 out of salary and wages. e. As seeing the income at Rs.2839140 against the returned income of Rs.1741590. f. Charging interest under the various provisions of the Act. And the learned CIT(Appeals) erred in law and on facts in upholding the order of the learned A.O. in this regard. 2) It is therefore prayed that the above addition may kindly be ordered to be deleted and the relief prayed for may kindly be granted for which act of kindness the assessee shall be grateful.
At the outset, that the appeal filed late by 47 days. The Ld. AR of the assessee has filed an application for condonation of delay, supported by Affidavit. The crux of the application for delay is as under;
“2. The assessee is staying outside Mitana. The affairs of the assessee were managed by part time accountant Shri Prafulbhai Shishangiya at Mitana. He handles the income tax and allied matters of the assessee. The appeal order is dated 20/12/24. It is respectfully submitted that Shri Prafulbhai Shishangiya was handling the above matter. However as he was on leave and outside the town for his personal purpose since last week of December 2024, it was only in the first week of April 2025 that he came to Mitana and got the appeal filed before the Honorable Bench on 17-04-25; Prafulbhai Shishangiya had also not informed me about the CIT (A) order and as such the appeal which ought to have been filed within 60 days i.e. by 20-02-25 has been filed on 17-04-25 which is 47 days late. It is because of his continuous leave during the above period the appeal could not be filed before the Honorable ITAT. Shri Prafulbhai Shishangiya is not conversant and has no knowledge about time limit for filing the appeal and the procedure involved therein. The affidavit of Prafulbhai Shishangiya is enclosed.”
Due to accountant was out of station, the Ld. AR submitted that the assessee is not having knowledge of limitation for filing an appeal. The assessee is outside of Village Mitana for his business purposes. Therefore, the Ld. AR prayer for one more opportunity may kindly be given to the assessee and adjudicate on merit. On the contrary, the Ld. DR for the revenue has no objected to the prayer of the Ld. AR , however the Ld. DR requested that the assessee must be directed to present his case before the Ld. AO, and do not seek unnecessary adjournments.
We have heard both the parties. We note that delay of filing before this Tribunal was due to accountant/consultant was out of station, in support of the submission an affidavit is placed on record. The assessee was not having knowledge about the proceedings of the case. After considering the reason explained by the Ld. AR. In the interest of justice, we take a judicious view that we condoned the delay in filing appeal by 47 days.
Brief facts of the case that the assessee filed his return of income showing total income of Rs. 17,41,590/- was filed on 16.10.2012, The return of income was processed u/s. 143(1) of the I.T. Act. The assessee is engaged in the business of transportation & insurance agent for vehicles. The case was selected for scrutiny and notice u/s 143(2) of the LT. Act, dated 16.08.2013 was issued and served upon the assessee on 18.08.2013. The accounts of the assessee are audited and Tax Audit Reports dated 18.09.2012 in Form No.3CA/3CD under section 44AB of the Act and copy of return of income were filed during the assessment proceedings. The taxable income of the assessee is computed for the assessment year 2012-13 as under; AS DISCUSSED IN PARA 4 Rs. 7,50,000/- AS DISCUSSED IN PARA 5 Rs. 1,34,175/- AS DISCUSSED IN PARA 6 Rs. 50,000/- AS DISCUSSED IN PARA 7 Rs. 43,375/- AS DISCUSSED IN PARA 8 Rs. 1,20,000/- Page | 3
TOTAL INCOME Rs. 28,39,140/-”
That the assessee filed an appeal against the order of the Ld. AO, vide order dated 27.03.2015, in the office of the Ld. CIT(A), Rajkot. The Ld. CIT(A) has dismissed the appeal with following observation: “In view of the above, I have no hesitation in upholding the addition made by the AO both on the facts as well as merits, particularly in the absence of application u/s. 46A of the Rules. As such, no infirmity as found in the action of the AO and the grounds of appeal
on merits is dismissed. As a result, the appeal stands dismissed.”
8. That the assessee filed an appeal against the impugned order dated 20.12.2024 before the Tribunal.
During the course of hearing, the Ld. AR of the assessee submitted that the assessee not having knowledge of online proceedings. That the Ld. AR prayed for one more opportunity may kindly be given to the assessee to explain the case.
On the other hand, the Ld. Sr. DR has relied upon the order of the Ld. CIT(A) and not objected to the prayer of the Ld. AR.
We have heard both the parties and perused the documents available on record. We note that the assessee has not made the compliance with the notices for hearing issued by the Ld. AO. We note that the assessee was not aware about the online proceedings because the assessee lives in village and there is no internet facility available. We note that the assessee has not gave due care and attention to the case and negligent in pursuing the case and the assessee has also a non-cooperative attitude in pursuing the case for A.Y. 2012-13. We direct the assessee to deposit cost of Rs.1,000/- to the Prime Minster Relief fund (Government of India), the receipt is to be submitted with the Registrar of this Tribunal. Keeping in view, in the interest of justice, that due opportunity given to the assessee to produced/submit the relevant documents before the Lower Authority. Therefore, we set aside the order of the Ld. CIT(A) and remand the matter back to the file of the Ld. AO for fresh adjudication and direct to the assessee to submit the relevant details/ documents/ evidence, if any required by the Ld. AO for disposed off the case.
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the open court on 06-08-2025.