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Facts
The assessee, a cooperative credit society, claimed deduction under Section 80P for AY 2018-19, which the AO denied, leading to a higher income assessment. The CIT(A) dismissed the assessee's appeal ex-parte due to non-compliance with notices, prompting the assessee to appeal to the ITAT.
Held
The ITAT, noting the CIT(A)'s ex-parte dismissal, decided that the assessee should be given another opportunity in adherence to principles of natural justice. Consequently, the ITAT set aside the CIT(A)'s order and remitted the matter back to the CIT(A) for fresh adjudication, with the assessee granted adequate hearing.
Key Issues
The primary issue was the CIT(A)'s ex-parte dismissal of the appeal, and the underlying dispute regarding the assessee's eligibility for deduction under Section 80P.
Sections Cited
143(3), 250, 80P, 143(2), 142(1), 143(3A), 143(3B)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, PANAJI BENCH
Before: SHRI PAVAN KUMAR GADALE & SHRI G D PADMAHSHALI
ORDER
PER PAVAN KUMAR GADALE, JM:
The appeal is filed by the assesse against the order of National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) Delhi / CIT(A) passed u/sec 143(3) and u/sec 250 of the Act. The assessee has raised the grounds of appeal
challenging the ex-parte order of the CIT(A).
2. The brief facts of the case are that, the assessee is a cooperative credit society and has filed the return of income for the A.Y 2018-19 on 30.10.2018 disclosing a total income of Rs.40,430/- after claiming deduction of Rs.79,13,137/- u/sec 80P of the Act. Subsequently the case was selected for scrutiny under CASS and notice Grameena Seva Sahakari Sangha Niyamita. u/sec143(2) and u/sec 142(1) of the Act are issued calling for details in respect of claims and the information supporting the return of income filed. The assesse has filed the details through ITBA and the Assessing Officer (A.O) has dealt on the submissions/details and find that the assessee society is not eligible for claim of deduction under section 80P of the Act and the A.O. was not satisfied with the explanations and dealt on the provisions and judicial decisions and denied the claim of deduction u/sec80P of the act and assessed the total income of Rs.79,53,570/- and passed the order u/sec 143(3) r.w.s143(3A)&143(3B) of the Act dated 03.04.2021.
Aggrieved by the order, the assesse has filed an appeal before the CIT(A), whereas the CIT(A) has considered the grounds of appeal, statement of facts and findings of the AO and has issued notices of hearing and since there was no compliance by the assesse to notices. Therefore the CIT(A) considering the information on record has dismissed the appeal. Aggrieved by the order of the CIT(A), the assessee has filed an appeal before the Hon'ble Tribunal.
We heard the Ld.DR submissions and perused the material on record. Prima-facie the CIT(A) has passed the order considering the fact that there is no compliance nor appearance in spite of providing adequate opportunity of hearing and the notices were issued. Therefore, the CIT(A) was of the opinion that the assesse is not interested in prosecuting the appeal and passed the ex parte order. The Grameena Seva Sahakari Sangha Niyamita. CIT(A) has issued the notices of hearing on 15.11.2022,8.07.2024,18.07.2024,12.08.2024&12.09.2024 referred at Para 8 of the order and there was no response and thus the Ld.CIT(A) came to a conclusion that the assessee is not interested and decided the appeal based on the information available on record. Whereas the assesse has raised grounds of appeal challenging the addition made by the A.O and there could be various reasons for non appearance which cannot be overruled. Therefore, considering the facts and principles of natural justice, we shall provide with one more opportunity of hearing to the assessee to substantiate the case with evidences and information. Accordingly, we set aside the order of the CIT(A) sustaining the addition made by the A.O and remit the disputed issue to the file of the CIT(A) to adjudicate afresh and the assesse should be provided adequate opportunity of hearing and shall cooperate in submitting the information for early disposal of the Appeal. And, we allow the grounds of appeal of the assesse for statistical purpose.
In the result, the appeal filed by assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the open court on 05.03.2025.