NPR INFOSYSTEMS PVT. LTD., ,KOLKATA vs. DCIT, CIRCLE - 11(2), KOLKATA , KOLKATA

The case of the assessee in this miscellaneous application is that the assessee could not receive the notice of hearing therefore he could not attend the hearing before the Tribunal.

After hearing both the parties we are of the view that since the assessee has not received the notice for hearing therefore he could not attend the hearing before this Tribunal. Hence, we consider it that it is a reasonable cause to recall this order and hence in the interest of justice and fair play we recall the order of the Tribunal dated 28.12.2018.

In the result, the Miscellaneous application is allowed.

However with the consent of both the parties the related appeal itself has been heard today. Now we shall take up the assessee’s appeal in 2013-14.

The captioned appeal filed by the assessee for assessment year 2013-14, is directed against the order of Ld. CIT(A)-4, Kolkata which in turn arises out of an assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer u/s 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (in short the Act).

At the outset itself, the ld counsel for the assessee has stated that he could not get any opportunity to plead his case before the ld. CIT(A) and the impugned order is an ex parte order , stood vitiated on account of violation of principle of natural justice. The ld. Counsel for the assessee contended that in the interest of justice,

We note that in the assessee’s case under consideration, the assessment was carried out u/s 143(3) of the Act and the impugned order passed by the ld. CIT(A), is an ex parte order and non-speaking order, therefore, we do not wish to make any comments on the merits of the grounds raised by the assessee.

We note that the ld. CIT(A) did not consider the assessment records while adjudicating the issue. We note that the ld. CIT(A) did not discuss the assessee’s case on merits based on the material available before him hence it is a violation of principle of natural justice. We note that it is a 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. 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. We therefore restore this issue back to the ld. CIT(A) for fresh adjudication on merits after affording three effective opportunities to the assessee for presenting its case as per law and any default on latter’s part to this effect consequential proceeds would be deserved as vacation of our instant remand order.

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