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Facts
The assessee filed appeals against separate orders of the CIT(A) for AYs 2015-16 and 2017-18, which were dismissed without providing sufficient opportunity of being heard. The assessee's representative requested that the matter be restored to the AO to allow the submission of evidence.
Held
The tribunal granted the assessee one more opportunity to present its case and evidence before the AO. The issues are remanded to the AO for fresh adjudication, provided the assessee pays a cost of Rs. 10,000/- to the Income Tax Bar Association within 60 days. Failure to pay will result in the confirmation of the CIT(A)'s orders.
Key Issues
Whether the assessee should be allowed an additional opportunity to provide relevant documents and substantiate its claims before the Assessing Officer, considering the prior dismissal by the CIT(A) and AO due to lack of evidence.
Sections Cited
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, CUTTACK BENCH CUTTACK
Before: SHRI GEORGE MATHAN & SHRI RAJESH KUMAR
O R D E R Per Bench : These two appeals are filed by the assessee against the separate orders, both dated 24.02.2025 passed by the ld. CIT(A), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi for the assessment years 2015- 2016 & 2017-2018.
It was submitted by the ld AR that the ld. CIT(A) has dismissed both appeals of the assessee without providing any sufficient opportunity of being heard to the assessee. It was the prayer that the matter may be restored to the file of ld. AO to decide the issue involved in both the appeals afresh so that the assessee could be able to produce all the evidence to substantiate his claim.
3. In reply, ld Sr. DR vehemently supported the orders of the Assessing Officer and ld. CIT(A). It was the submission that the assessee has not produced any evidence either before the ld. Assessing Officer or before the ld. CIT(A). It was the submission that looking to the non- cooperative attitude of the assessee, a reasonable cost deserves to be levied.
We have considered the rival submissions. As it is noticed from the orders of the authorities below that the assessee could not substantiate its claim by providing relevant documents neither before the ld. CIT(A) in appellate proceedings nor before the ld. AO in assessment proceedings. However, the ld. AR has made a request before the Bench that if the assessee is given one more opportunity to represent its case before the ld. AO, the assessee could be able to provide all the details before the ld. Assessing Officer to substantiate its claim. This being so, in the interest of justice, we grant the assessee one more opportunity to substantiate its claim before the ld. AO by restoring the issues in both the appeals to the file of ld. AO for adjudicating afresh after providing the assessee adequate opportunity of being heard, subject to a payment of cost of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand only) each shall be payable by the assessee to the Income Tax Bar Association, ITAT Campus, Sector-1, CDA, Cuttack- 753014, within sixty days from the date of this order and receipt of the same would be produced before the AO at the first hearing. Should the assessee not pay the abovementioned costs within the prescribed period of sixty days from the date of this order, the order of the ld. CIT(A) in both