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Facts
The assessee filed their return of income, but did not appear during assessment proceedings despite notices. The AO made additions under section 115BBE for unexplained cash deposits. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) also passed an ex parte order dismissing the appeal.
Held
The Tribunal noted that ex parte orders were passed by both revenue authorities. Considering the assessee had genuine reasons for not responding due to personal circumstances, the appeal was restored to the Assessing Officer for de novo consideration.
Key Issues
Whether the ex parte orders passed by the AO and FAA were justified, and if there were sufficient grounds to restore the appeal for fresh consideration.
Sections Cited
115BBE, 144
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, “C” BENCH : BANGALORE
Before: SHRI GEORGE GEORGE K. & SHRI LAXMI PRASAD SAHU
Per Laxmi Prasad Sahu, Accountant Member
This appeal is filed by the assessee against the ex parte DIN & Order No.ITBA/NFAC/S/250/2023-24/1060760596(1) dated 10.02.2024 of the CIT(Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi [NFAC], for the AY 2017-18.
Briefly stated the facts of the case are that the assessee filed return of income on 2.8.2017 declaring income of Rs.3,87,250. The case was selected for scrutiny and statutory notices were issued to the assessee. During the assessment proceedings the AO issued various notices to the assessee, however the assessee did not appear. The assessee did not reply to the final show cause notice. The AO observed that the assessee deposited cash of Rs.15,21,500 for the period from 9.11.2016 to 30.12.2016 in ICICI Bank Bijapur Branch in Accounts Nos. 650851000042, 650801501526 & 650801700952. The assessee deposited Rs.50,000 in Raddi Sahakari Bank, Vijapur. The entire cash deposits remained unexplained from the assessee’s side and therefore added and taxed as per section 115BBE of the Act in the assessment u/s. 144 of the Act by the AO.
Aggrieved by the AO’s order, the assessee filed appeal before the First Appellate Authority (FAA) . The FAA issued notices through ITBA system via email-id provided in the ITBA portal. However, the assessee did not reply and the FAA passed ex parte order dismissing the appeal of the assessee. Against this, the assessee is in appeal before the ITAT.
The ld. AR of the assessee submitted that the ld. FAA decided the appeal ex parte without going into the facts of the case. During FY 2015-16, assessee’s younger brother was seriously ill and unfortunately later died. During his illness the assessee was not in the address provided in the IT return/portal. Therefore notices remained unresponded. The assessee is an agriculturist owning 50 acres of agricultural land in Tikota village, near Bijapur. He is also working as a physical director in Govt. aided school of BLDE Society. The main source of income is agricultural income and salary. Agricultural lands are inherited property. The notices issued by the FAA were not seen by the assessee and the case was migrated to NFAC. The ld. AR requested that if a chance is given, he undertook to substantiate the case before the AO with evidence.
The ld. DR opposed the giving another chance to the assessee and relied on the orders of lower authorities.
After considering the rival submissions and perusing the material on record, we note that the ex parte orders were passed by both the revenue authorities. We note that the assessee had genuine reasons for not responding to the notices of the department and in the interest of justice, we restore the appeal to the file of Assessing Officer for de novo consideration and decision as per law. The assessee is direct to produce evidence before the AO in support of his case, furnish the communication address, email-id, mobile number and not seek unnecessary adjournment for early disposal of the case.
In the result, the appeal is allowed for statistical purposes.