SKH Management Services Limited, Gurgaon V. DCIT, Circle-23(2), New Delhi

ITA 108/DEL/2022

• Counselvise Citation: [2022] 104 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 9769 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 8 month(s) 7 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 27-09-2022
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: G
• Assessment Year: 2016-2017
• Appeal Filed On: 19-01-2022
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Section: 68; 43; 20

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “G” DELHI BEFORE SHRI CHANDRA MOHAN GARG, JUDICIAL MEMBER & SHRI PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER I.T.A. No.108/DEL/2022 Assessment Year 2016-17 M/s. SKH Management Services Limited, 003007, Ground Floor, Tower-D, Global Business Park, M.G. Road, Gurgaon. v. Deputy Commissioner of Income- Tax, Circle-23(2), New Delhi. TAN/PAN: AANCS7398K (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by: Shri Amarjeet CA Respondent by: Ms. Kajal Singh, Sr. DR Date of hearing: 21 09 2022 Date of pronouncement: 28 09 2022 O R D E R PER PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, A.M.: Th e cap tio n ed ap peal h as b een fil ed b y th e Assessee ag ain st th e o rd er o f th e Co mmiss io n er o f Inco me Tax (Ap p eals), Natio n al Facel ess Ap p eal Cen tre [‘ CIT(A)’ in sh o rt] d ated 2 2.11 .2 0 21 arisin g fro m th e a ssess men t o rd er d ated 1 6 .1 2 .2 01 9 p assed b y the Assessin g Offic er (AO) u n d er Sectio n 1 43 (3 ) o f th e In co me Tax Act, 1 9 6 1 (th e Act ) co n cern in g AY 20 1 6 -1 7 . 2 . Th e g ro u n d s o f ap p eal ra ised b y th e assesse e read as u n d er: “ T h a t o n t h e f a c t s a n d c i r c u m st a n c e s o f t h e c a s e a nd i n l a w , t h e L e a r n e d CI T (A p p e a l s ) h a s e r re d wh i l e n o t a c c e p t i n g A d d i t i o n a l E v i d e n c e s f i l e d b y t h e a p p e l l a n t d u ri n g t h e a p p e l l an t I.T.A. No.108/Del/2022 2 p r o c e e d i n g s o n t h e g r o u n d t h a t i n t h e F o r m 3 5 t h e ap p e l l a n t h a d m e n t i o n e d “ No ” i n Co l u m n 1 2 wh i c h r e q u i r e s d e t a i l s o f a d d i t i o n a l d o c u m e n t s t o b e su b m i t t e d wi t h o u t c o n si de ri n g t h e f a c t t h a t p ro p e r o p p o rt u n i t y o f b e i n g h e a r d wa s n o t a f f o rd e d d u ri n g a ss e s sm e n t p r o c e e d i n g s a n d r e q u e s t t o a d m i t a d d i t i o n a l e v i d e n c e s c a n b e r a i se d a t a n y p o i n t o f t i m e d u ri n g a p p e l l a t e p r o c e e d i n g s. 2 . T h a t o n t h e f a c t s a n d c i r c u m st a n c e s o f t h e c a se a n d i n l a w, t h e L e a rn e d C I T (A p p e a l s ) h a s e r re d wh i l e c o n fi rm i n g t h e a d d i t i o n o f R s. 7 , 0 0 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 / - m a d e b y t h e L d . A O u n de r s e c t i o n 6 8 o f t h e A c t a n d h a d re j e c t e d a d d i t i o n a l e v i d e n c e s f i l e d b y t h e a p p e l l a n t o n t h e a g ro u n d t h a t i n t h e F o r m N o . 3 5 , th e a p p e l l a n t h a d m e n t i o n e d “ No ” i n C o l u m n 1 2 w h i c h re q u i r e s d e t ai l s o f a d d i t i o n a l d o c u m e n t s t o b e s u b m i t t e d a t t h e t i m e o f f i l i n g a p p e a l t o CI T (A p p e a l s ). ” 3 . Wh en th e mat ter was call ed fo r h earin g , th e ld . co u n sel fo r th e ass essee su b mi tted at th e o u tse t t h at su b stan t ia l ad d it io n s were mad e u n d er Sectio n 6 8 o f th e Act with o u t g iv in g an y reaso n ab le o p po rtu n ity to th e assesse e to ad d u ce th e ev id en ces to s u p po rt th e lo an o b tain ed by th e assessee in th i s reg ard . It was po in ted o u t th at th e as sesse e was ask ed to fu rn ish th e ev id en ces v id e n o tice d ated 0 9 .1 2 .20 19 an d co mp lian ce th ereo f v id e 1 1 .1 2 .20 1 9 . Sin ce th e n o tice p erio d was v ery sho rt, th e assesse e so u gh t ad jo u rn men t to fu l fil l th e req u ire men t o f th e n o tice . Ho wev er, th e Assessin g Officer d id n o t g iv e an y fu rth er o pp o rtu n ity an d p assed th e assess men t o n 1 6 .1 2 .2 01 9 arb itrarily in a h u rried ly ma n n er an d in g ro ss in frin g emen t o f p rin c ip les o f n atu ral ju st ice. 3 .1 Th e Ld . co u n sel fu rth er su b mi tt e d th at th es e fac t s were b ro ug h t to th e n o ti ce o f th e CIT(A) a n d th e d o cu ments to su p p o rt th e b o n a fid es o f lo an were fil ed b y way o f ad d it io n al ev id en ce b efo re th e CIT(A) a co p y o f wh ich h as b een p laced on reco rd . Th e ld . co u n sel n ex t su b mit ted th at d es p ite th e c lear circ u mstan c es ex ist in g in th e i n stan t cas e fo r ad mis sio n o f th e ad d itio n al I.T.A. No.108/Del/2022 3 ev id en ces o win g to d en ial o f an y reaso n ab le o pp o rtun ity , th e CIT(A) h as d ecli n ed to ad mi t th e ad d itio n al ev id e n ce fo r th e reaso n s stated in p arag rap h 4 .3 o f th e ap p ella te o rd er. Th e ld . co u n sel su b mit ted th at th e ac tio n o f th e CIT(A) in n o t ad mi t tin g th e ad d itio n al ev i d en ce is in g ro ss co n trav en tio n of th e statu to ry d iscret io n p rov id ed to th e CIT(A) und er Sectio n 2 5 0(4 ) o f th e Act an d also in g ro ss in frin g e men t o f Ru le 4 6 A o f th e In co me Tax Ru les. Th e ld . c o u n sel th u s fa irl y su b mit ted th a t th e mat ter req u ires to b e res t o red to th e fi le o f th e CIT(A) or th e Assessin g Officer fo r ad mis sio n o f ev id en ces an d ex amin at io n th ereo f as may b e co n sid ered n ecessary in th is r eg ard . 4 . Th e ld . DR fo r th e Rev en u e o n th e o t h er h an d relied u p o n th e act io n o f th e CIT(A). 5 . We h av e carefu ll y co n sid ered th e riv al su b miss ion s an d p eru sed th e ma teri al p l aced o n reco rd . As p o in ted ou t o n b eh alf o f th e ass essee , it is sel f ev id en t th at n o effect iv e o p p o rtu n ity h as b een g iv en to th e assesse e to co mp ly with th e req u ir emen ts o f sh o w cau se n o tice d ated 1 1 .1 2 .2 0 1 9. Th e assess men t o rd er was ev en tu ally p ass ed h u rried ly in less th an 7 d ay s. Thu s, th ere is su b stan tia l meri t i n th e p lea o f th e assessee to ward s d en ial o f reaso n ab le o p p o rtu n ity lead in g to mi scarri ag e o f n at u ral ju st ice . Stran g ely , th e CIT (A) h as ig n o red su ch sel f ev id en t v io la tio n o f n atu ral ju sti ce co mmi tt ed b y th e Assessin g Officer. Th e CIT(A) h as rath er g iv en preced en ce to sh al lo w tech n ical it ies an d th at to o , h as trap p in g s o f mi su n d erstan d in g o n th e p o sitio n st ated b y th e assesse e. Acco rd i n g to CIT(A), as p er th e co lu mn n o.1 2 o f the ap p eal me mo , th e assesse e h as d ecla red th at it h ad n o t fi led any ad d itio n al ev id en c e. Th e CIT(A) h as fa il ed to ap p reciat e th at su ch I.T.A. No.108/Del/2022 4 d eclara tio n in th e ap p eal me mo h as an al l to g eth er d ifferen t o b ject, i. e. , to p rev en t th e as sesse e fr o m fil in g ad d it io n al ev id en ce with o u t b rin g in g su ch fac tu m to th e k n o wled g e o f the CIT(A). Su ch d eclara tio n in th e ap p eal me mo d o es no t o p erate as an esto p p el ag ain st th e assesse e an d d o es n o t b ar th e assessee to fil e th e ad d it io n al ev id en ce wh en th e co nd itio n s o f Ru l e 4 6 A h as no t b een ex ceed ed b y th e Asses see . N eed less to s ay , R u le 4 6 A is fo u n d ed up o n th e p rin cip les o f n atu r al ju st ice . In th e i n stan t ca se, a g ro ss case o f i n frin g emen t o f su ch sa cro sa n ct p rin cip les is man i fes t fro m th e reco rd . Th is n o twith st an d in g , th e p o wers co n ferred u po n CIT(A) u n d er Sectio n 25 0 (4 ) o f th e Act is o f a v ery wid e amp litu d e, wh ereb y th e Ap p ellate Co mmi s sio n er may co lle ct su ch ev id en ces as may b e con sid ered n ecessary fo r p ro p er d isp o sal o f th e ap p eal . 5 .1 It is wel l set tl ed t h at stri ct ru les o f ev id en ce d o no t ap p ly to in co me t ax p ro ceed in g s. Wh ile Ru le 4 6 A o f th e In co me Tax Ru les sta tu to rily reco g n izes th e ad missib il i ty o f ad d ition al ev id en ces b y th e Firs t Ap p ella te Au th o rity in s p eci fied c ircu mstan ces, th e p o wers o f CIT(A) to ad mi t ad d i tio n al ev id en ces are far wid er in ter ms o f Sec tio n 2 5 0 (4 ) o f th e Act an d are n o t fe t tered b y li mita t io n imp o se d u nd er Ru le 4 6 A. Th e p o wers o f CIT(A) co n ferred b y Secti o n 25 0 (4 ) are n o t cu rtai led o r d istu rb ed b y Ru le 4 6 A. In fact , R u le 4 6 A(4 ) sp ecifi ca lly lay s d o wn that i ts p ro v isio n s sh all n ot a ffect th e p o wers o f First Ap pell ate Au th o rity to ca ll fo r th e p ro d u ctio n o f an y d o cu men t o r th e ex a min a tio n o f an y witn ess in o rd er to en ab le h i m to d isp o se o f the ap p eal b e fo re h im o r fo r an y su b stan tia l cau se in clu d in g en h ancemen t an d imp o si t io n o f p en a lty . I.T.A. No.108/Del/2022 5 5 .2 In th e factu a l b ack d rop , th e CIT(A) h as u n ju stifi ab ly d en ied to ad mi t an d to co n sid er th e ev id en c es p laced b e fo re h im b o th o n th e to u ch sto n e o f Ru le 4 6 A o f th e In co me Tax Ru les as well as ap p ella te p o wer co n ferred u nd er Sectio n 2 5 0 (4) o f the Act. Th e d en ial o f o p p o rtun ity to assess ee at b o th s tag e, i .e., b efo re Assessin g Officer an d CIT(A) h as ren d ered th e action o f th e Rev en u e Au th o riti es b ad in law. 5 .3 We th u s set asid e th e o rd er o f th e CIT(A) and hav in g reg ard to th e fac tu al ma trix , th e issu e is resto red to th e fi le o f th e Assessin g Offi cer fo r tak in g in to a c co u n t al l ev id en ce s th a t may b e p laced b efo re h im an d to mak e su ch in q u iry and verific at io n as may b e co n sid ere d n ecessary in re sp ect o f th e i mp u gn ed cash cred it tran sa ct io n s in q u estio n . Th e assesse e sh all b e a t lib er ty to ad d u ce su ch ev id en ce as may b e co n sid ered ex p ed ien t to su p p o rt its c ase o n th e su b ject ma tter o f d isp u te. Need les s to say , Assessin g Offi cer sh al l p ro v id e reaso n ab le o p p o rtu nity to th e assesse e an d p ass sp eak in g o rd er in acco rd an ce with l aw o n th e su b ject mat ter in d isp u te. 6 . In th e resu lt , th e ap p eal o f th e a ssessee is al lo wed fo r sta tis ti ca l p u rp o ses. Order pronounced in the open Court on 28/09/2022. Sd/- Sd/- [CHANDRA MOHAN GARG] [PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA] JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER DATED: 28/09/2022 Prabhat