Chahat Ram, Gautam Budh Nagar V. ITO Ward-1(2), U.P

ITA 1019/DEL/2022

AI Insights

The case involves Chahat Ram, the appellant, who contested the assessment order passed by the Income Tax Officer, Ward-1(2), Noida, which was sustained by the CIT(Appeals). The assessment order was based on the grounds that the assessee had deposited unexplained cash amounting to Rs. 17,37,500. The appellant argued that the assessment was made without proper notice or opportunity to be heard, violating the principles of natural justice. The Tribunal, considering the lack of representation and opportunity given to the assessee at both the assessment and appellate stages, decided to set aside the previous orders and remand the case back to the Assessing Officer for a de novo assessment.

• Counselvise Citation: [2022] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 112755 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 6 month(s) 23 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 04-12-2022
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: SMC
• Next Hearing Date: 04-12-2022
• Assessment Year: misc
• Appeal Filed On: 11-05-2022
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act
• Result in Favour of: Matter Remanded
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Keywords: Opportunity of being heard; Principle of natural justice; Set aside
• Section: 144; 250

Judgement Text

1 ITA no. 1019/Del/2022 IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “SMC”: NEW DELHI BEFORE SHRI KUL BHARAT, JUDICIAL MEMBER ITA No. 1019/DEL/2022____ Assessment Year: 2012-13 Chahat Ram C/o Chaman Singh, 208, 3 rd Floor, JS Arcade, near Bikanervala, Opp. Metro Pillar no. 81, Noida, Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar (UP) PAN- AOPPR7424C Vs Income-tax Officer, Ward-1(2), Noida APPELLANT RESPONDENT Assessee represented by Sh. Satyajeet Goel, CA Department represented by: Shri Sumesh Swani, Sr. DR Date of hearing 05.12.2022 Date of pronouncement 05.12.2022 O R D E R PER KUL BHARAT, JM: This appeal, by the assessee, is directed against the order of the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, dated 14.03.2022, pertaining to the assessment year 2012-13. The assessee has raised following grounds of appeal: “1. That the impugned Assessment order passed by the Ld. AO is bad in law, wrong on facts and against the Principal of natural justice hence is unsustainable. 2. That the impugned Assessment order passed by the Ld. AO is wrong, having no base and against the circumstance of the case, Ld. AO had made addition on the basis of AIR information only and calculated capital gain on 2 ITA no. 1019/Del/2022 arbitrary basis. 3. Ld. CIT(A), had passed order u/s 250 without providing an opportunity of being heard and ex-party order had been made by CIT(A). 4. hat on facts and circumstances of the case and in Law, the assessing officer had erred in assessing the income tax of the appellant at Rs. 10,84,140.00 please be deleted. 5. Any notice have not received by assessee or any family member or relative of assessee, so, any opportunity of being heard has not been provided to assessee regarding present his case which is against natural justice. 6. Assessee Mr. Chahat Ram is a farmer and his agriculture land has been acquired by govt. And assessee has received compensation, assessee has cows and buffalos in his home and used to sell milk in his village and assessee sold his buffalos and received consideration in cash and deposited in his saving bank account apart from this assessee deposited amount in his bank account which has been withdrawn earlier 7. That the Ld. Assessing officer had erred on facts and circumstances of the case and in law in making an addition on account of sale of agricultural land by deceased assessee jagat singh, and amount had been received in his account and after that amount had been withdrawn for the purpose of construction of his ancestral residential home, 8. The addition made by the A.O. is devoid of any merits and is away from the factual matrix of the case and based on just an imagination and on filmisy ground. Submission was not made by the assessee. 9. The assessment order is therefore illegal being in violation of the principal of natural justice and unsustainable in law. 10. Further details will be produced at the time of hearing. 11. Submission was not made by the Assessee as any notice has not been served on the asseessee as there was not proper address in notices 12. That the impugned assessment order is arbitrary, illegal, bad in law in violation of rudimentary principal of contemporary jurisprudence. 3 ITA no. 1019/Del/2022 13. That the provisions of section 271(1) (C) are not applicable in the case of the applicant. 14. That the impugned Assessment order passed by Ld. Assessing Officer, Noida is a clear cut case of misunderstanding and wrong interpretation of Law. 15. That the appellant crave leave to add, alter, amend, delete or modify any or more of the ground of appeal before or at the time of hearing. 2. Facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the case of the assessee was reopened on the basis that the assessee had deposited cash amounting to Rs. 17,37,500/-. The Assessing Officer treating the same as unexplained, made addition. Aggrieved against this the assessee filed appeal before the learned CIT(Appeals), who sustained the addition. Now the assessee is in appeal before this Tribunal. 3. At the time of hearing learned counsel for the assessee vehemently argued that the assessee was not given adequate opportunity to represent his case. Even before the Assessing Authority the order was passed u/s 144 of the Act. The learned CIT(Appeals) also did not give any effective opportunity to the assessee. He prayed that the orders of the authorities below may be set aside and the matter may be restored to the file of Assessing Officer for framing the assessment de novo after affording reasonable opportunity to the assessee of being heard. 4. On the other hand, learned Sr. DR opposed the submissions made on behalf of the assessee and supported the orders of the authorities below. 5. I have heard rival submissions and perused the material available on record. Considering the fact that in this case at the assessment stage as well as before the first appellate authority there was no representation on behalf of the assessee, in order to subserve the interest of natural justice, I set aside the orders of the 4 ITA no. 1019/Del/2022 authorities below and restore the matter to the file of the Assessing officer to frame the assessment afresh, after affording reasonable opportunity to the assessee to represent its case. 6. In the result, assessee’s appeal is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in open court during the course of hearing on 05.12.2022. Sd/- (KUL BHARAT) JUDICIAL MEMBER *MP* Copy forwarded to: 1. Appellant 2. Respondent 3. CIT 4. CIT(Appeals) 5. DR: ITAT ASSISTANT REGISTRAR ITAT, NEW DELHI