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Facts
The assessee's appeal was filed belatedly by 389 days. The assessee requested for condonation of delay, supported by an affidavit. The Revenue did not raise any serious objection. The Tribunal condoned the delay and admitted the appeal.
Held
The Tribunal held that the assessee was not provided with sufficient opportunity of being heard by the lower authorities and could not substantiate its claim with documents. In the interest of justice, the Tribunal restored the issues to the file of the Assessing Officer for fresh adjudication.
Key Issues
Whether the appeal is maintainable after being barred by limitation, and whether the assessee should be granted another opportunity to present its case.
Sections Cited
IT Act
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, CUTTACK BENCH CUTTACK
Before: SHRI GEORGE MATHAN & SHRI RAJESH KUMAR
आदेश / O R D E R Per Bench : This is an appeal filed by the assessee against the order of the ld. CIT(A), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, dated 01.01.2024 for assessment year 2010-2011. 2. The appeal of the assessee is barred by 389 days. In this regard, the assessee has filed an application supported by an affidavit for condonation of delay stating therein sufficient reasons for delay, which are plausible and not found to be false. Ld. CIT-DR also did not raise any serious objection to condone the delay. Accordingly, delay of 389 days in filing the present appeal by the assessee is condoned and the appeal is admitted for hearing.
3. 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 its claim.
In reply, ld CIT-DR vehemently supported the orders of the Assessing Officer and ld. CIT(A).
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.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) 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