In a recent ruling, the Ahmedabad Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ) of has directed a re-adjudication after dismissing an appeal filed offline without a hearing.
In this case, the assessee, Mayursinh Jayandrasinh Jadeja, failed to file the Income Tax Returns ( ITR ) for the Assessment Year ( AY ) and the case of the assessee was reopened based on Annual Information Return ( AIR ) data indicating share transactions around Rs. 1 crore. Although multiple notices were sent, the Assessing Officer ( AO ) based on the available material made additions including Rs. 48,35,282 as unexplained investment under Section 69 A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Rs. 11,50,736 as unexplained cash credit.
The assessee later on approached the Commissioner of Income Tax ( Appeals ) [ CIT(A) ] and contended that the assessment notice was issued without jurisdiction because the notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act was allegedly not served on the assessee.
The CIT(A) dismissed the case due to a procedural lapse. In this case, the assessee filed his appeal in paper format rather than electronically, as required by new regulations since 1-03- 2016. Although it was contended by the assessee that his case qualified for manual filing due to its assessment year, the CIT(A) ruled against the assessee.
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Thus the assessee approached ITAT for relief.
It was contended by the assessee that his right to a hearing on the merits was denied and that he should have been allowed to rectify the filing mode.
The ITAT ruled that procedural issues alone should not bar an appeal from being heard, and thus the CIT(A) had erred and passed the order without following the principles of natural justice.
The ITAT bench, comprising Annapurna Gupta ( Accountant Member ) and Siddhartha Nautiyal ( Judicial Member ), set aside the CIT(A)’s order and directed a fresh hearing, allowing the assessee to rectify procedural defects and ensuring his appeal is heard based on its merits.
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The assessee was represented by Mr. P. F. Jain and the department by Mr. Rignesh Das.
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