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Facts
The assessee's appeal was directed against an order passed by the Ld. CIT(A)/NFAC, which arose from an order passed by the ITO under Section 147/144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for Assessment Year 2012-13. Both the assessment order and the appellate order were passed ex parte.
Held
The Tribunal noted that both the Assessing Officer and the First Appellate Authority had passed their orders ex parte, without providing the assessee an opportunity to be heard. To prevent miscarriage of justice, the Tribunal set aside the matter to the file of the Assessing Officer for fresh adjudication, granting the assessee an opportunity to be heard.
Key Issues
Whether the assessment and appellate orders passed ex parte without providing adequate opportunity of hearing to the assessee are sustainable in law.
Sections Cited
147, 144, 68, 271(1)(c)
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, DELHI BENCH “C”: NEW DELHI
Before: SHRI M BALAGANESH
O R D E R
PER Ms. MADHUMITA ROY, JM:
The instant appeal, preferred by the assessee, is directed against the order dated 09.08.2023 (DIN & Order No. ITBA/NFAC/S/250/2023-24/1054975568(1), passed by the Ld. CIT(A)/NFAC, Delhi, arising out of the order dated 27.11.2019, passed by the ITO, Ward 19(1), Delhi, under Section 147/144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) for the Assessment Year 2012-13.
Grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are as under:
“1. That the order passed by the Ld. CIT(A) and Ld. AO is bad in law and against the facts of the case.
2. That the Ld. CIT(A) erred in considering the fact that the Ld. AO erred in passing the order us 147/144 of the act without jurisdiction..
That the Ld. CIT(A) and Ld. AO has failed to appreciate that there was no tangible material on record to form a reason to believe that income of the appellant had escaped assessment.
4. That the Ld. CIT(A) erred in sustaining the addition made by the Ld. AO amounting Rs. 70,00,000/-u/s 68 of the Act on account of unexplained income.
5. That the Ld. AO erred in initiating the penalty proceedings u/s 271(1)(c)of the Act.
That the appellant carves leave to add, alter, modify or delete any of the ground of appeal
.”
3. It appears from the records that the impugned order passed by the Learned CIT(A)/NFAC dated 19.08.2023 is an ex parte one arising out of order passed by the Learned Assessing Officer under Section 147/144 of the Act. It appears that the Ld. First Appellate Authority has disposed of the assessee’s appeal in limine, inter alia, by observing as under:
In this case, the appellant was given opportunities to represent the case on 11.03.2021, 16.08.2022, 22.08.2022, 20.09.2022 & 01.08.2023.In response, till date, nothing has been heard from the appellant. No explanation whatsoever has been offered by the appellant to justify its claims. Thus, it appears that the appellant is not interested in proceedings with the appeal filed. Therefore, the appeal of the appellant is dismissed in-limine.
3.1 It is also seen that in this particular case the assessment was also finalized ex parte, in the absence of the assessee. In view of these facts the Learned AR prayed for setting aside the issue to the file of the Learned AO for fresh adjudication of the matter.
Having heard Learned Authorized Representatives of the parties and considering the fact of the assessment order having been finalized by the Learned AO in the absence of the assessee and further that the First Appellate Authority vide impugned order has disposed of the assessee’s appeal ex parte in limine, in our considered opinion it would be fit and proper that in order to prevent the miscarriage of justice, the appeal is disposed of by setting aside the matter to the file of the Learned Assessing Officer for fresh adjudication of the issue involved in the matter upon granting an opportunity of being heard to the assessee and upon considering the evidence on record or any other evidence which the assessee may choose to file at the time of hearing of the matter. We also make it clear that in the event the assessee does not cooperate with the Ld. Assessing Officer, the said authority would be at liberty to proceed with the matter and finalize the same strictly in accordance with law. We order accordingly.
In the result, assessee’s appeal is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in open court on 10.11.2025.