HANUMAN TEA COMPANY LIMITED,KOLKATA vs. ITO, WARD - 12(3), KOLKATA, KOLKATA

The captioned appeal filed by the assessee , pertaining to assessment year 2011-12, is directed against the order passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal)-4 , Kolkata, which in turn arises out of an assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer u/s 143(3) / 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (in short the ‘Act’) dated 09.03.2016.

At the outset itself, the ld. Counsel submitted before us, that during the appellate proceedings, the assessee sought an adjournment vide letter dated 12.04.2018, however the ld. CIT(A) did not communicate the adjournment date to the assessee, hence assessee could not attend the hearing before the ld. CIT(A). Hence the order being an ex-parte order, stood vitiated on account of violation of principle of Hanuman Tea Company Ltd. Assessment Year:2011-12 natural justice. The ld. Counsel for the assessee contended that in the interest of justice, another opportunity to contest the appeal before the Ld. first appellate authority may be granted to the assessee.

We have heard both the parties and perused the material available on record. We note that the ld. CIT(A) did not communicate the date of adjournment. We also note that the ld. CIT(A) did not consider the assessment records and did not pass order on merits based on the documents available before him hence it is a violation of principle of natural justice. We note that the ld. CIT(A) failed to determine the obligations and rights of the assessee. We note that it is settled law that principles of natural justice and fair play require that the effected party is granted sufficient opportunity of being heard to contest his case. Hence we are of the view that one more opportunity should be given to assessee to plead his case before ld. CIT(A). Therefore, without delving much deeper into the merits of the case, in the interest of justice, we restore the matter back to the file of Ld. CIT(A) for de novo adjudication and pass a speaking order after affording sufficient opportunity of being heard to the assessee, who in turn, is also directed to contest his stand forthwith. Therefore, we deem it fit and proper to set aside the order of the ld. CIT(A) and remit the matter back to the file of the ld. CIT(A) to adjudicate the issue afresh on merits. For statistical purposes, the appeal of the assessee is allowed.

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.