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Facts
The Assessee filed an appeal against the order of the Ld. CIT(A) which dismissed the appeal. The assessment order was passed under Section 153C r.w. Section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Held
The Tribunal held that the Ld. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal without providing the Assessee an opportunity of being heard, thus violating principles of natural justice. The appeal was remanded back to the Ld. CIT(A) for a fresh decision on merits.
Key Issues
Whether the Ld. CIT(A) correctly dismissed the appeal without providing an opportunity of being heard and deciding on merits.
Sections Cited
153C, 144, 143(3)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, DELHI
The present appeal is filed by the Assessee against the order of Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-25, New Delhi, (‘Ld. CIT(A)’ for short), dated 04/06/2025for the Assessment Year 2020-21.
Brief facts of the case are that, an assessment order came to be passed on 31/03/2024 under Section 153C r.w. Section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 ('Act' for short) by making certain additions.
1. Aggrieved by the assessment order dated 31/03/2024, Assessee preferred the Appeal before the Ld. CIT(A). The Ld. CIT(A) vide order dated 04/06/2025, dismissed the Appeal filed by the Assessee.
Aggrieved by the order of the Ld. CIT(A), the Assessee preferred the present Appeal.
The Ld. Counsel for the Assessee vehemently submitted that the Ld. CIT(A) has provided no opportunity of being heard to the Assessee and in violation of principals of natural justice, dismissed the appeal of the Assessee without deciding the issues on merits.
Per contra, the Ld. Departmental Representative relying on the orders of the Ld. CIT(A) sought for dismissal of the Appeal.
We have heard both the parties and perused the material available on record. It can be seen from the order of the Ld. CIT(A), the impugned order has been passed ex-parte without hearing the Assessee. It is further observed that while deciding the Appeals, the Ld. CIT(A) has not decided all the grounds of Appeal of the Assessee on its merits. Considering the facts that the Assessee has not participated in the first Appellate proceedings, in the interest of natural justice, we remand the matter to the file of the Ld. CIT(A) with a direction to the Ld. CIT(A) to decide the Appeals afresh on its merits in accordance with law after providing opportunity of being heard to the Assessee.
In the result, the Appealof the Assesseeis partly allowed for statistical purpose.