The Kerala High Court has remanded an order due to a violation of natural justice, citing the non-receipt of notices under Section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which were sent to the wrong email ID.
This writ petition was filed against order in appeal passed under Section 250 of the Income Tax Act 1961 challenging assessment order for the assessment year 2017-2018. The appeal has been dismissed for non-prosecution as the petitioner failed to appear pursuant to notices issued under Section 250 of the Act. According to the petitioner, they have not received any of the notices referred to either in the primary email Id or in the secondary email Id or in the email Id mentioned in Form No.35. Accordingly, the petitioner prays to set aside appellate order being one passed in violation of the principles of natural justice.
A statement has been filed on behalf of the Commissioner of Income Tax ( Appeals ) wherein it was stated that the notices have been sent to the email Id given in Form No.35 under ‘Personal Information’. A chart has also been produced showing the details of the notices sent to the petitioner. From the statement, it is seen that the notices have been sent to the email Id crgkitr@yahoo.in whereas the email Id provided by the petitioner in Form No.35 is crgk1070@gmail.com. Thus, it is evident that no notice has been sent to the email Id given by the petitioner in Form No.35.
The Single Bench of Justice Murali Purushothaman, concurred with the petitioner’s argument that the order was issued without prior notice to the petitioner. Consequently, the order was set aside, with a directive to the Commissioner of Income Tax ( Appeals ) to review the appeal after providing proper notice to the petitioner via email.
The appeal shall be disposed of within a period of three months from the date of issuance of fresh notice to the petitioner. Till such time, there shall not be any coercive steps pursuant to assessment order. Accordingly, the writ petition was disposed of.
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