DEEPALI PRAMOD REDIJ,DADAR MUMBAI vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX APPEALS, DELHI

None appeared on behalf of the assessee. From the perusal of order, it is seen that the notice issued by the Ld. CIT(A) were never received or served upon the assessee and as such they could not present its case before the Ld. CIT(A) who proceeded ex parte and decided the appeal on merit without giving effective opportunity of hearing to the assessee and as such the assessee was prevented from presenting its case before the Ld. CIT(A). Therefore, the impugned order suffers from illegality and liable to be set aside. The Ld. DR on the other hand supported the judgment of the Ld. CIT(A) stating that there is no merit in the appeal and same is liable to be dismissed.

We have considered the rival submissions. Section 250 sub section 2(a) of "the Act" provides as under:

It is evident from the provision that the hearing to be given is not a formality but an effective hearing is sine qua non for the purpose of upholding the principal of natural justice. We have examined the impugned order of the Ld. CIT(A) who has observed as under: -

It is thus evident from the contents of the impugned order extracted above that no effective opportunity of hearing has been given and there is no proof that the notice sent on various dates were duly served or brought to the notice of the appellant/assessee.

For these reasons, we are of the considered opinion that matter needs to be restored to the file of the Ld. CIT (A) for giving effective hearing to the Page | 3

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