PGF Ltd., Chandigarh V. ACIT, CC- 27, New Delhi

ITA 4350/DEL/2017

• Counselvise Citation: [2022] 106 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 3263 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 5 year(s) 23 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 25-07-2022
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: F
• Assessment Year: 2014-2015
• Appeal Filed On: 02-07-2017
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Section: 28; 2; 43

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “F” DELHI BEFORE SHRI KUL BHARAT, JUDICIAL MEMBER & SHRI PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER I.T.A. No.4350/DEL/2017 Assessment Year 2014-15 PGF Ltd., SCO 1042-43, Sector-22-B, Chandigarh v. ACIT, Central Circle-27, New Delhi. TAN/PAN: AABCP2805N (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by: None Respondent by: Shri Toufel Tahir, Sr.D.R. Date of hearing: 20 07 2022 Date of pronouncement: 26 07 2022 O R D E R PER PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, A.M.: Th e cap tio n ed ap peal h as b een filed at th e in s tan ce o f th e Assessee ag a in st t h e o rd er o f th e C o mmiss io n er o f In co me T ax (Ap p eals)-XXXI, New Delh i [‘CIT(A)’ in sh o rt], d ated 17 .0 3 .2 017 arisin g fro m th e a ssess men t o rd er d ated 3 1 .0 3 .2 01 6 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 4 -1 5 . 2 . Th e g ro u nd s o f ap p eal ra ised b y th e Assessee re ad s as u n d er: “T ha t hav in g re ga r d t o th e f ac ts a nd c irc um st an ce s of th e ca se , Ld . CI T (A ) ha s er r ed i n la w a nd on f act s i n no t q uash i ng t he im pu gne d a sse ss m ent o rd er a nd t h at to o w ith ou t as sumi ng jur is di ct io n as pe r la w. I.T.A. No.4350/Del/2017 2 2. T hat h avi ng re ga r d t o t he fac ts an d c irc um st an ce s o f t he cas e, Ld . CI T (A ) ha s er re d in la w an d on f ac ts i n conf ir mi ng t he act io n of Ld . A O i n tr ea tin g t he a mo unt of R s. 28 1, 81 ,4 5,0 00 /- as ‘ co nti ng en t li ab i lit y’ i ns te ad o f ‘ acc rue d e xpe ns e’ as c l ai med an d mo re so w he n th e li ab ili ty i s a con fi rm ed o bl igat i on an d im pu gne d a dd iti on ha s be en m ad e by rec or di ng i nc or re ct fact s an d fi nd in gs an d wit ho ut ob se rv in g the pr in ci ple s of n atu ra l jus ti ce . 3. T hat i n a ny ca se a nd in an y vie w of th e m at te r, ac tio n of Ld . CI T (A ) in c on f ir min g th e ac ti on of L d. A O i n trea ti ng th e am ou nt o f Rs .2 81 ,81 ,4 5, 00 0/ - as ‘ c ont in ge nt l ia bi lity ’ an d rej ec ti ng t he cl ai m of a ss es se e i s il le g al, ba d i n l aw an d ag ain st the f ac ts a nd c ir cu ms ta nce s of t he c a se a nd i s no t su st a ina bl e on va ri ou s le ga l a n d f ac tu al g ro un ds . 4. T hat h avi ng re ga r d t o t he fac ts an d c irc um st an ce s o f t he cas e, Ld . CI T (A ) ha s er re d in la w an d on f ac ts i n conf ir mi ng t he act io n of Ld . AO i n fra mi ng t he i mp ug ned as se ss me nt o rd er a nd ad dit io n ma de t he r ein a re n ot s us tai n abl e on v ar io us le g al an d fac tu al g ro un ds .” 3 . Wh en th e ma tt er was cal led fo r h ea rin g , n o n e ap peared fo r th e asse ssee . It is seen fro m th e re co rd th at mu l tip l e o p p o rtu n ities h av e b een g iv en to th e assessee. Ho wev er, h av ing reg ard to th e co n tin u ed n o n ap pearan ce, th e mat ter is p ro ceed ed ex-p a rte. 4 . On p eru sal o f th e o rd er o f th e CIT(A), we n o tice th at th e CIT(A) h as also p ro ceed ed ex-p a rte. Ho wev er, wh ile d isp o sin g th e ap p eal, th e CIT(A) h as merely rep ro d u ced th e assessmen t o rd er an d co n firmed th e sa me in th e ab se n ce o f an y ap p earan ce. Th e CIT(A) essen tia ll y d ismiss ed th e a p p eal b efo re i t fo r wan t o f I.T.A. No.4350/Del/2017 3 p ro secu tio n an d no n atten d an ce. Th e CIT(A) h as ap paren tly n o t lo o k ed in to th e v a rio u s g rou n d s o f ap p eal in d ep en d en tl y an d h as n o t d etermin ed th e issu es in v o lv ed in terms o f Se ctio n 2 5 0(6 ) o f th e Act . 5 . Sect io n 2 50 (6 ) o f th e Act en jo in s th at th e CIT(A) sh all stat e th e p o in ts fo r d et ermin at io n b efo re it an d th e d ecis i o n sh all b e ren d ered o n su ch po in ts a lo n g with re aso n s fo r th e d ecis io n . Th u s, it is in cu mb en t u p o n th e CIT(A) to d eal with th e g ro u nd s on mer its ev en in ex p arte o rd er. In view o f Sec tio n 25 0 (6 ) o f th e Act, th e CIT(A) h as n o p o wer to d is mi ss an ap p eal on acco u n t o f n o n -p ro secu tio n . Th is v iew is a lso t a k en b y th e Ho n’b le Bo mb ay Hig h Co u rt in case o f CIT vs. Prem ku ma r Arju nd a s Lu th ra HUF (2 0 1 7 ) 2 91 CTR 6 1 4 (Bo m.). A b are g lace o f th e o rd er o f th e CIT(A) sh o ws th at CIT(A) h as n o t ad d ressed itse l f on th e v ario u s p o in ts p laced fo r i ts d e termin at io n a t al l an d d is missed th e ap p eal o f ass essee fo r d efau lt in n o n ap p earan ce. Ne ed less to say , th e CIT(A) p lay s ro le o f b o th ad ju d i cat in g au th o rity as wel l as ap p ella te au th o rity . Th u s, th e CIT(A) co u ld n o t h ave shu n n ed th e ap p eal fo r n o n - co mp li an ce with o u t ad d ressin g th e issu e on mer its . 6. In th e tot al it y of cir cu ms ta nc es, w e con si de r it ex pe di e nt to res to re t he mat te r b ack t o t he f ile of th e CI T( A) in th e la r ger i nt er es t of jus ti ce wi th a v iew to e nab le th e ass es se e t o a va il o pp ort un it y onc e mo re . Ho we v er su ch b ene vo le nc e w il l be av ai la ble at t he co st of Rs .5 ,0 00/ - to b e d ep osi te d b y th e as se sse e wit hin 1 mo nt h of ser vi ce of t hi s or de r t o Th e Pri me Mi n ist er R el ief F un d. 7. W it h t he se ter ms , t he a pp ea l of th e a s ses se e i s re st or ed t o th e I.T.A. No.4350/Del/2017 4 f ile of th e CI T( A) f or de no vo a dju di ca t ion i n acc or da nc e wit h la w. 8 . In th e resu l t, ap p eal o f th e as sesse e i s al lo wed fo r s ta ti sti cal p u rpo ses. Order was pronounced in the open Court on 26/07/2022. Sd/- Sd/- [KUL BHARAT] [PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA] JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER DATED: /07/2022 Prabhat