In an assessee-favoring ruling, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Chandigarh bench has directed the National Faceless Appeal Centre, (NFAC) to re-adjudicate the appeal on merits since the assessee was aggrieved with the order dismissing the appeal based on a delay of 252 days.
The assessee, Neelam Hospital claimed that the appeal before the NFAC had been filed belatedly by 252 days and the Ld. First Appellate Authority did not consider the assessee’s application for condonation of delay and dismissed the assessee’s appeal in limine without considering the merits of the case. It was submitted that no opportunity was given by the NFAC to the assessee to explain its case and, therefore, in the interest of substantial justice, another opportunity should be given to the assessee to explain the cause of delay.
The Revenue defended the order of the NFAC and submitted that the assessee had filed the appeal before the NFAC which was delayed by 252 days and therefore, the appeal had rightly been dismissed by the NFAC.
After considering arguments from both the sides, the Tribunal bench consists of Shri N.K. Saini, Vice President & Shri Sudhanshu Srivastava, Judicial Member held that admittedly and undisputedly, the assessee had filed the appeal before the NFAC beyond the period of limitation and there was a delay of 252 days in filing the appeal.
“However, it is also undisputed that the NFAC did not adjudicate the appeal of the assessee on merits but dismissed it without admitting on the ground that the appeal was filed late. In our considered opinion, the NFAC should have allowed the assessee an opportunity to explain the delay and establish its bona fide before dismissing the appeal, if the delay was found not to be condonable. Therefore, in the interest of substantial justice, we restore this appeal to the NFAC with a direction to allow the assessee adequate opportunity to explain the delay and, thereafter, admit the appeal and hear it on merits, if the delay is found to be condonable,” the bench said.
Chartered Accountant Sh. Parikshit Aggarwal appeared for the assessee.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan AdFree. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates.
