The Kolkata Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) remanded the case to the Assessing Officer (AO) for a fresh order due to the assessee’s lack of opportunity to present evidence.
Prakash Bhalotia ,appellant-assessee, filed his return for AY 2017-18 with a total income of Rs. 7,24,055/-. His case was selected for scrutiny to examine cash deposits made during demonetization. Despite receiving notices under sections 143(2) and 142(1), he failed to respond.
As a result, cash deposits of Rs. 63,11,500/- were treated as unexplained and added to his income. The appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax(Appeals)[CIT(A)] was dismissed due to non-compliance with the required documents. Dissatisfied with the decision, the assessee appealed before the tribunal.
A delay of 62 days occurred in filing the appeal due to urgent, unavoidable business travel between November 2023 and January 2024, causing stress and illness. Despite not being fully recovered, the assessee prepared the appeal and supporting documents, but could not file by 12th December 2023. Upon reviewing the condonation petition, the tribunal condoned the delay and admitted the appeal for adjudication.
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The assessee’s counsel argued that the assessee was not given a proper chance to be heard and asked for an opportunity to present his case before the AO. Medical papers were given to explain his absence before the AO and CIT(A). A bank certificate for the cash deposit during demonetization was also submitted.
The two member bench comprising Pradip Kumar Choubey(Judicial Member) and Rajesh Kumar(Accountant Member) reviewed the orders of the AO and CIT(A) and found that the AO passed the order without hearing the appellant. The CIT(A) dismissed the appeal because the appellant did not provide the required documents.
After reviewing the documents submitted, including a bank statement for cash deposits during demonetization, medical papers for the assessee’s wife and brother, and documents showing business travel, the tribunal noted that the assessee could not appear due to personal reasons. The counsel argued that the assessee had enough evidence and should be given a chance to present it.
The tribunal decided to restore the case to the AO’s file and instructed the AO to pass a fresh order after hearing the assessee and reviewing the documents.
In short,the appeal filed by the assessee was allowed for statistical purposes.
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