Widow Entitled to Fresh Opportunity to Prove Genuineness of Income, Assessment Year 2010-11 to be Re-Examined: ITAT [Read Order]

The Jaipur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ) recently set aside an assessment order and directed the Assessing Officer to conduct fresh assessment proceedings after providing reasonable opportunity to the appellant, who claimed to be the sole legal representative of the deceased assessee.

An Income Tax Appeal was filed before the tribunal by the Appellant-Assessee, Geeta Devi Agarwal, legal heir and widow of Late Shri Badri Lal Agarwal, against the Order of the Commissioner of Income-tax Appeals for the Assessment Year 2010-11.

The facts follow the Assessee's failure to participate in the assessment proceedings despite service of notices, resulting in the passing of the assessment order dated 22.12.2017 by the Assessing Officer under Section 144 read with Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the Assessment Year 2010-11.

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It was submitted before the CIT(A) that Shri Badri Lal Agarwal had left this world on 25.3.2021, i.e., during the pendency of the appeal, which claim was not disputed by the Revenue.

P.C.Parwal, appearing for the Assessee, averred that the  the legal heir of Late Badri Lal Agarwal,  had already registered herself with the Income Tax Department and on the e-filing portal, and the CIT(A) should not have dismissed the appeal without considering this fact.

The multifarious contentions of the Appellant were countered by Gautam Singh Choudhary, appearing for the Revenue, who vehemently held that the appeal was dismissed due to non-registration of the legal heir, contending that the Appellant was unable to justify the delay in registration.

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The two-member Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Jaipur, composed of Rathod Kamlesh Jayantbhai, Accountant Member, and Shri Narinder Kumar, Judicial Member, observed that the CIT(A) erred in dismissing the appeal solely due to non-registration of the legal heir, despite the appellant claiming to have registered herself with the Income Tax Department.

The Bench observed that the CIT(A) had dismissed the appeal for statistical purposes, allowing the legal heir to file Form 35 afresh after registering the name of the legal representative with the department, thereby providing an opportunity to the appellant to pursue the appeal further.

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The Bench referred to the fact that the appeal was initially presented by the assessee himself on 24.1.2018, before his demise on 25.3.2021, and observed that the matter required remand to the Assessing Officer for fresh assessment proceedings.

 Upholding the rights of the legal heir, ITAT set aside the order of CIT(A) and remitted the matter to the Assessing Officer for fresh assessment proceedings.

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