Loading judgment…
Facts
The assessee's appeal arose from an ex parte order passed by the AO, who added Rs. 52,12,819 on account of unexplained credit entries and cash deposits. The assessee's appeal before the CIT(A) was unsuccessful, largely due to non-attendance.
Held
The Tribunal acknowledged that ignorance of law is generally not an excuse, but considering the interests of substantive justice, it decided to provide the assessee with another chance by remanding the matter to the AO for fresh assessment.
Key Issues
Whether the assessee was denied an opportunity to be heard and whether the additions made were on merit, considering the assessee's claim of being in a remote village and lack of proper guidance.
Sections Cited
250
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, DELHI BENCH “B”NEW DELHI
Before: SHRIMAHAVIR SINGH, HON’BLE & SHRISANJAY AWASTHI
सुनवाईक�तारीख/ Date of hearing: 10.12.2025 10.12.2025 उ�ोषणाक�तारीख/Pronouncement on आदेश /O R D E R PER SANJAY AWASTHI, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER:
This appeal arises from order u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter “the Act”), dated 29.07.2024, passed by the Ld. CIT(A)- NFAC, Delhi. In this case the Ld. AO is seen to have passed an ex parteorder and added Rs.52,12,819/- on account of credit entries and cash deposits in the bank accounts of the assessee, which were allegedly unexplained. Aggrieved with this action of Ld. CIT(A) the assessee approached the CIT(A) where also he could not succeed largely on account of non-attendance of the assessee before the Ld. CIT(A). 1 1.1 Further aggrieved, the assessee has approached the ITAT with grounds which challenge the denial of opportunity and also challenge the additions on merit.
Before us, the Ld. AR argued that the assessee was located in a village which was remote and hence the notices sent to him could not be responded to due to ignorance of law and lack of proper guidance from a tax practitioner. The Ld. AR stated that the assessee has a good case on merit and the same could be establish even before the ITAT on the basis of documents available with the Ld. AR.
2.1 The Ld. DR relied on the orders of the authorities below and stated that the mere fact that the assessee was located in a village did not mean that he would be totally cut off from all tax matters and thus, his lack of attention to such matters was being sought to be unjustifiably explained.
We have carefully considered the averments of Ld. AR/DR and have gone through the records. It is a settled position that normally ignorance of law cannot be treated as an excuse for escaping the duties cast on a tax payer vis-a-vis the taxation laws. It is not evident as to how an assessee who is conducting a business in this day and age is unaware of e- mails and such other means of communications. Be that as it may, in the interests of substantive justice, we are inclined to give the assessee another chance by setting aside the impugned order and remanding this matter back to the file of the Ld. AO for fresh assessment. However, seeing that considerable Government resources have been expended in dealing with this matter by the authorities below, we deem it fit to levy of cost of Rs.10,000/- payable to Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee. This cost shall be deposited before 31.01.2026.
In the result, this appeal is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the open court on 10.12.2025