Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against the order dated 20/03/2025. The appeal was barred by 35 days, and the assessee sought condonation of delay with supporting affidavit. The Revenue did not object to the condonation.
Held
The Tribunal condoned the delay of 35 days and admitted the appeal for hearing. The Tribunal granted the assessee one more opportunity to represent its case before the AO, restoring the issues for fresh adjudication, subject to a cost of Rs. 5,000/-.
Key Issues
The assessee's appeal was dismissed by the CIT(A) without sufficient opportunity of being heard. The assessee sought to present evidence before the AO.
Sections Cited
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, CUTTACK BENCH CUTTACK
Before: SHRI GEORGE MATHAN & SHRI RAJESH KUMAR
(नििाारण वर्ा / Assessment Year : 2017-2018) Pravat Kumar Pathal Vs ITO, Jajpur Cuttack Saree Centre Chorda, Jajpur Road, Jajpur, 755019 PAN No. : AKWPP 9494 R (अपीलार्थी /Appellant) .. (प्रत्यर्थी / Respondent) नििााररती की ओर से /Assessee by : Shri Natbar Panda, Advocate राजस्व की ओर से /Revenue by : Shri Vijay Singh, Sr. DR सुनवाई की तारीख / Date of Hearing : 12/08/2025 घोषणा की तारीख/Date of Pronouncement : 12/08/2025 आदेश / O R D E R Per Bench : This is an appeal filed by the assessee against the order dated 20/03/2025 passed in Appeal No.CIT(A),Cuttack/11060/2019-20 for the assessment year 2017-2018.
The appeal of the assessee is barred by 35 days. In this regard, the assessee has filed an application for condonation of delay supported with an affidavit stating therein sufficient reasons for delay, which are plausible and not found to be false. Ld. Sr. DR also did not raise any serious objection to condone the delay. Accordingly, delay of 35 days in filing the present appeal by the assessee is condoned and the appeal is admitted for hearing.
It was submitted by the ld AR that the ld. CIT(A) has dismissed the appeal 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 the appeal afresh so that the assessee could be able to produce all the evidence to substantiate his claim.
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 the appeal 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.5,000/-