The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Chennai bench, directed the deposit cost of rupees 5,000/- to the State Legal Aid Authority due to non-appearance before the lower authorities for appeal proceedings.
The assessee, Bhandari Foils and Tubes Ltd, had filed its return of income for assessment years 2009-10 to 2011-12 under section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act. The assessment has been completed under section 144 read with section 147 of the Income Tax Act.
Aggrieved by the order, the assessee filed an appeal before the CIT(A) who dismissed the appeal. Thus, the assessee filed a second appeal before the tribunal.
During the proceedings, D. Anand, Counsel for the assessee, argued that the assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer is ex-parte. Further, CIT(A) also passed an ex-parte appellate order and dismissed appeals filed by the assessee without condoning the delay in filing the appeals.
AR V. Sreenivasan, Counsel for Revenue, submitted that the assessee is a habitually non-cooperator in the proceedings, which is evident from the ex-parte assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer. Thus, the assessee could not adduce proper reasons for non-appearance.
The Tribunal observed that when the litigants do not pursue or prosecute their appeals with utmost honesty, the appellate authority is left with no option but to decide the appeals on their merits. The appeals of the assessee have been dismissed on technical grounds, without any proper petition from the assessee.
Further, it was observed that the assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer is ex-parte, and the appeals of the assessee have been dismissed unheard. Hence, the bench restored the matter to the AO for fresh adjudication.
The bench also directed that, for the default committed by the assessee for not appearing before the lower authorities, the assessee needs to pay a nominal cost for such a default.
After reviewing the facts and records, the two-member bench of Manjunatha G (Accountant Member) and V. Durga Rao (Judicial Member) imposed a nominal cost of Rs. 5,000/- for each assessment year and directed the assessee to deposit the amount of the cost imposed with the State Legal Aid Authority.
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