ATS INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED,NEW DELHI V. DCIT, CIRCLE-1(1), DELHI

ITA 2984/DEL/2023

AI Insights

ATS Infrastructure Ltd. filed an appeal against the order of the Ld. CIT(A)/National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), which dismissed their earlier appeal concerning the Assessment Year 2018-19. The primary contention was that the CIT(A) had passed the order ex-parte without providing a reasonable opportunity for the Assessee to be heard, which was argued to be a clear violation of the principles of natural justice. Additionally, the CIT(A) had confirmed certain disallowances related to GST and Service Tax payable, and delay in deposit of employees' contribution towards Provident Fund, which the Assessee contested. The Tribunal found merit in the Assessee's arguments regarding the procedural lapses and remanded the case for a fresh decision on its merits.

• Counselvise Citation: [2024] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 474880 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 1 year(s) 13 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 06-11-2024
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Partly Allowed
• Bench Allotted: A
• Next Hearing Date: 23-10-2024
• Assessment Year: 2018-2019
• Appeal Filed On: 23-10-2023
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Partly Allowed
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: AMISHA S. GUPA
• Assessee Lawyers: VED JAIN; UMA UPADHYAY
• Keywords: Opportunity of being heard; Principle of natural justice
• Section: 143(3); 43B

Judgement Text

" 1 ITA No. 2984/Del/2023 ATS Infrastructure Ltd. Vs. DCIT IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH ‘A’: NEW DELHI BEFORE SHRI S. RIFAUR RAHMAN, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SHRI YOGESH KUMAR U.S., JUDICIAL MEMBER ITA No. 2984/Del/2023, (A.Y.2018-19) ATS Infrastructure Ltd. 711/92, Deepali Nehru Place, New Delhi PAN No:AADCA0609B Vs . DCIT Circle-1(1) New Delhi (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by Sh. Ved Jain, Adv & Ms. Uma Upadhyay, Adv Respondent by Ms. Amisha S. Gupa CIT(DR) Date of Hearing 23/10/2024 Date of Pronouncement 06/11/2024 ORDER PER YOGESH KUMAR U.S., JM : This appeal is filed by the Assessee against the order of Ld. CIT(A)/National Faceless Appeal Centre [“NFAC” for short], dated 09/10/2023 for the Assessment Year 2018-19. 2. The grounds of Appeal are as under: - “1. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the order passed by the learned Commissioner Income Tax (Appeals), Income Tax Department ((CIT(A), ITD), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) is bad, both in the eye of law and on the facts. 2. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the learned CIT(A), ITD has erred both on facts and in law in passing the order ex- 2 ITA No. 2984/Del/2023 ATS Infrastructure Ltd. Vs. DCIT parte without providing the reasonable opportunity of being heard to the assessee in clear violation of the principal of natural justice 3. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the order passed by the Ld. CIT(A), ITD is bad in the eyes of law and on facts as the same has been passed without giving any finding on the merits of the case. 4. (1) On the facts and circumstances of the case, the learned CIT(A), ITD has erred both on facts and in law in confirming the addition of Rs. 6,34,52,730/- on account of GST and Service Tax payable invoking the provisions of Section 43B of the Income Tax Act (ii) That the above disallowance has been confirmed despite the fact that these amounts have not been routed through Profit & Loss account and not claimed as deduction and therefore, provisions of Section 438 are not applicable. (iii) That the above disallowance has been confirmed ignoring the various judicial precedents in this regard. 5. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the learned CIT(A), ITD has erred both on facts and in law in confirming the disallowance of Rs 27,83,384/- made by the AO on account of delay in deposit of employees contribution towards Provident fund invoking the provision of Section 36(1)(va) of the Income Tax Act.” 3. Brief facts of the case are that, an assessment order came to be passed u/s 143(3) read with Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’ for short) by computing the income of the Assessee at Rs. 13,97,37,360/- as against the returned income of Rs. 7,35,01,250/-. The Assessee preferred an Appeal before the Ld. CIT(A) by challenging the said Assessment Order. The Ld. CIT(A) vide order dated 09/10/2023, dismissed the Appeal filed by 3 ITA No. 2984/Del/2023 ATS Infrastructure Ltd. Vs. DCIT the Assessee. Aggrieved by the order of the Ld. CIT(A) dated 09/10/2023, the Assessee preferred the present appeal on the grounds mentioned above. 4. The Ld. Counsel for the Assessee submitted that the order impugned has been passed in violation of principles of natural justice, though the Assessee has requested for adjournment on the date of hearing, the same has been rejected by the Ld. CIT(A) and passed the order of dismissal of Appeal, thus submitted that the order of the Ld. CIT(A) deserves to be set aside. 5. Per contra, the Ld. Departmental Representative relying on the orders of the Lower Authorities, sought for dismissal of the Appeal of the Assessee. 6. We have heard both the parties and perused the material available on record. During the appellate proceedings, the Ld. CIT(A) issued two notices on 25/01/2023 and 25/09/2023. However, the Assessee had requested for adjournment on both the dates. The Ld. CIT(A) passed the order impugned by placing the Assessee ex-parte. However, the Ld. CIT(A) has not decided the Appeal on its merits. Considering the fact that the order impugned has been passed in violation of principles of natural justice and the Ld. CIT(A) has not decided the issues involved in the Appeal on its merit, we remand the matter to the file of the Ld. CIT(A) to decide the Appeal afresh on its merit after providing sufficient opportunity of being heard to the Assessee. 4 ITA No. 2984/Del/2023 ATS Infrastructure Ltd. Vs. DCIT 7. In the result, the Appeal of the Assessee is partly allowed for statistical purpose. Order pronounced in open Court on 06th November, 2024 Sd/- Sd/- (S. RIFAUR RAHMAN) (YOGESH KUMAR U.S.) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER Dated: 06/11/2024 R.N, Sr. PS Copy forwarded to: 1. Appellant 2. Respondent 3. CIT 4. CIT(Appeals) 5. DR: ITAT ASSISTANT REGISTRAR ITAT, NEW DELHI "