LORDS BLUETECH COMPANY PVT. LTD.,KOLKATA vs. A.C.I.T., CIRCLE - 8(1), KOLKATA, KOLKATA

This appeal at the instance of the assessee is directed against the order of National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi [the learned CIT (A)] dated 16.03.2024, which is arising out of the assessment order under Section 144 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) dated 14.12.2018.

At the outset, the ld. Authorized Representative for the assessee submitted that there is delay of 23 days in filing the appeal before this Tribunal. The reasons for delay as explained by ld. Authorized Representative is that relevant documents were in the custody of the previous consultant and it took time for new consultant to obtain these documents and prepare the appeal memo. Due to this, there was an unavoidable delay of 23 days in filing the appeal. The ld. Authorized Representative requested to condone

We after considering the submissions made by the ld. Authorized Representative and facts placed before us, we are of the view that the delay of 23 days in filing the appeal was due to reasonable cause as explained by the assessee. The delay was due to administrative reasons and there was no deliberate attempt by the assessee to delay in filing the appeal. In the interest of justice and fair play, we hereby condone the delay in fling the appeal. The appeal will now be heard on merits.

Brief facts of the case are that the appellant/ assessee company filed its return of income for the assessment year under consideration by declaring total loss of ₹1,24,86,267/-. The case of the assessee was selected for scrutiny under Computer Assisted Scrutiny Selection (CASS), followed by notice issued u/s 143(2) & 142(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act). However, no one appeared on behalf of the assessee before the ld. Assessing Officer. Consequently, the ld. AO passed an ex-parte order u/s 144 of the Act on 14th December, 2018, determining the total income of the assessee at ₹1,05,92,370/- after making an addition of ₹2,30,78,637/- on account of undisclosed purchase.

Aggrieved by the ex-parte order, the assessee filed an appeal before the ld. CIT (A). However, the appeal was dismissed by ld. CIT (A) due to non- prosecution on the part of the assessee.

Dissatisfied with the above order, the assessee has filed the present appeal before this Tribunal raising various grounds.

During the hearing before us, the ld. Authorized Representative for the assessee submitted that assessee generated with two 15CA forms required

On the other hand, the ld. Departmental Representative vehemently supporting the orders of the lower authorities.

We have heard the rival contentions and perused the records available on record. We find that sufficient opportunities were provided to the assessee but it failed to avail those opportunities. Consequently, both the assessment order and the order of ld. CIT (A) were passed ex-parte. In the interest of justice, we believe that it is appropriate to remand this matter to the file of the ld. CIT (A) to examine the issue afresh and ld. CIT (A) is directed to provide reasonable opportunity to the assessee to be heard and assessee furnish the necessary supporting documents to substantiate its claim. The assessee is also directed to co-operate with the proceedings and submit the require evidences to support its claim.

In view of the above, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purpose and the matter is remanded back to the file of the ld. CIT (A) for

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.