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Facts
The assessee, Indian Education Trust, appealed against an order of the NFAC/CIT(A) which dismissed their appeal. The Assessing Officer had disallowed revenue expenditure due to failure to substantiate the claim and improper application of income under Section 11(1). The CIT(A) dismissed the assessee's appeal for non-compliance despite multiple opportunities.
Held
The Tribunal, considering the assessee's submission about COVID-19 related difficulties and the lack of serious objection from the Revenue, decided to restore the issue back to the CIT(A) for fresh adjudication. The assessee was directed to provide all supporting documents.
Key Issues
Whether the CIT(A) erred in dismissing the appeal without adjudicating on merits, and if the assessee should be granted a fresh opportunity to present their case due to operational difficulties.
Sections Cited
11(1), 143(3), 143(3A), 143(3B), 250
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, RANCHI BENCH, RANCHI
Before: SHRI SONJOY SARMA & SHRI RATNESH NANDAN SAHAY
Assessee represented by None Department represented by Shri Rajib Jain, CIT-DR Date of hearing 11/12/2025 Date of pronouncement 29/01/2026 O R D E R PER: RATNESH NANDAN SAHAY, A.M. 1. This appeal by the assessee is directed against the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi/learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), [in short, the ld. CIT(A)] dated 25/10/2024 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2018-19. The assessee has raised following grounds of appeal:
1. That the learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) erred in law and on facts by dismissing the appeal under Section 250 without adjudicating the issues on merit, despite condoning the delay in filing the appeal.
2. That the order passed under Section 250 is perverse, arbitrary, and against the principles of natural justice as adequate opportunities were not provided for presenting the case.
3. That the learned Assessing Officer erred in disallowing the entire revenue expenditure amounting to Rs. 3,24,32,966 without considering: The appellant's audited financial statements, including the income and expenditure account. The nature of the appellant as a trust engaged in providing education, duly registered under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
4. That the learned Assessing Officer passed the assessment order under Section 143/3) read with Section 1448 without providing sufficient time for compliance Indian Education Trust Vs Exemption Ward and without properly verifying the evidence submitted during the scrutiny process.
5. That the additions made by disallowing legitimate revenue expenditure are based on conjectures and lack proper inquiry, thereby violating the principles of equity and natural justice.
6. That the order under appeal fails to account for the operational difficulties faced by the appellant during the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly affected its ability to comply with procedural requirements.
That the appellant reserves the right to amend, alter, or add to the grounds of appeal at a later stage if necessary."
Facts of the case, in brief, are that the order under Section 143(3) r.w.s 143(3A) and 143(3B) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (In short, the Act) was passed on 13/04/2021 for the A.Y. 2018-19 on the ground that the application of income amounting to ₹ 3,24,32,966/- claimed by the appellant trust was wrongly shown under Section 11(1) of the Act and failed to substantiate its claim of expenditure.
Aggrieved by the order of Assessing Officer, the appellant filed appeal before the Id. CIT(A). The ld. CIT(A) vide the impugned order, dismissed the appeal of the assessee on the ground that multiple opportunities were provided to the appellant to explain its case with supporting documentary evidence but there was no compliance on the part of the appellant.
Aggrieved by the order of ld. CIT(A), this appeal has been preferred before this Tribunal.
During the appellate proceedings before us, it was submitted that it could not be explained it case before the ld. CIT(A) due to Covid-19 pandemic and therefore, some more opportunities may kindly be given to substantiate its claim.
The ld. CIT-DR did not raise any serious objections.
Indian Education Trust Vs Exemption Ward 7. We have considered the submission and we think it proper to restore the issue after back to the file of ld. CIT(A) for fresh adjudication after providing reasonable opportunity of being heard. The appellant is also directed to provide all the supporting documents to substantiate its claim before the ld. CIT(A).
In the result, this appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes only. Order Pronounced in open court on 29th January, 2026