The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Bangalore Bench has quashed the Assessment Order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) (CIT(A)) for the reason that a mandatory notice under Section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was not served to the assessee prior to the completion of the assessment proceedings.
The assessee, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) represented by Smt.Suman Lunkar, CA stated that the assessment completed by the Assessing Officer (AO) is invalid since the mandatory notice under section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act was not served on them. The assessee argued that the assessment order should be quashed due to this legal issue.
The respondent, Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) was represented by Sri. Sunil Kumar Singh.
The assessee submitted an affidavit stating that the notice under section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act was never served to them, and they had brought this fact to the attention of the AO during the assessment proceedings itself but it was not considered in a legal perspective.
The bench accepted the contention of the assessee that there was no valid service of the notice as contemplated under section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act and the assessment order should be set aside on this ground alone.
The bench noted that the AO did not address the issue of non-service of the notice in the assessment order even though the assessee brought the same to the notice of the AO during the course of assessment proceedings and the CIT(A) did not adjudicate on the ground raised by the assessee.
The bench clarified that the assessment order is deemed to be invalid due to the non-service of the mandatory notice to the assessee as contemplated under Section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Therefore, the two-member bench consisting of Shri. Laxmi Prasad Sahu (Accountant Member) and Shri. George George K (Judicial Member) has set aside the assessment order.
In conclusion, the appeal filed by the assessee was allowed, and the assessment order was set aside due to the non-service of the mandatory notice under section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act.
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