S.Duraipandi, CHENNAI V. DCIT, CHENNAI

ITA 580/CHNY/2017

• Counselvise Citation: [2017] 128 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 4041 (ITAT-CHENNAI)
• Duration Of Justice: 4 month(s) 23 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 28-07-2017
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Partly Allowed
• Bench Allotted: B
• Assessment Year: 2007-2008
• Appeal Filed On: 07-03-2017
• Result in Favour of: Partly Allowed
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: MURALI MOHAN
• Assessee Lawyers: B RAMAKRISHNAN
• Keywords: Opportunity of being heard; Reasonable cause
• Section: 143(3); 153A; 147; 148; 132

Judgement Text

, , IN THE INCOME - TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL B BENCH, CHENNAI , . , BEFORE SHRI CHANDRA POOJARI , ACCOUNTANT MEMBER & SHRI DUVVURU RL REDDY , JUDICIAL MEMBER I.T.A. NO S . 580 & 581 /MDS/2017 ASSESSMENT YEAR S : 20 07 - 08 & 2008 - 09 SHRI S. DURAIPANDI, NO. 86, 4 TH MAIN ROAD, NATESAN NAGAR, VIRUGAMBAKKAM, CHENNAI 600 0 92 . [PAN: A EDPD9062N] VS. THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX , C ENTRAL CIRCLE 3(4) , CHENNAI 600 034 . ( / APPELLANT ) ( / RESPONDENT ) / APPELLANT BY : SHRI B. RAMAKRISHNAN, C.A. / RESPONDENT BY : SHRI MURALI MOHAN, ADDL. CIT / DATE OF HEARING : 0 1 . 0 6 .201 7 / DATE OF P RONOUNCEMENT : 28. 0 7 .201 7 / O R D E R PER DUVVURU RL REDDY , JUDICIAL MEMBER : BOTH THE APPEAL S FILED BY THE SAME ASSESSEE ARE DIRECTED AGAINST THE COMMON ORDER OF THE LD. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (APPEALS) 19 , CHENNAI DATED 21 . 02 .2 01 7 RELEVANT TO THE ASSESSMENT YEAR S 20 07 - 08 AND 2008 - 09 . T HE MAIN GROUND RAISED IN BOTH THE APPEAL OF THE ASSESSEE IS THAT WITHOUT REPRESENTATION FROM THE ASSESSEE, THE LD. CIT(A) PASSED EX - PARTE ORDER, WHICH CANNOT SUSTAIN UNDER THE LAW . I.T.A. NO S . 580 & 581 /M/17 2 2. BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE ARE THAT THE ASSESSEE ENGAGED IN MONEY LENDING BUSINESS. THE ASSESSEE HAS FILED HIS RETURN OF INCOME ON 31.11.2009 FOR THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2007 - 08 ADMITTING TOTAL INCOME OF .98,070/ - . THE ASSESSMENT WAS COMPLETED UNDER SECTION 153A OF THE INCOME TAX ACT , 1961 [ ACT IN SHORT] ACCEPTING THE RETURNED INCOME OF THE ASSESSEE. SIMILARLY, FOR THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2008 - 09, THE ASSESS MENT WAS COMPLETED UNDER SECTION 143(3) OF THE ACT ON 31.12.2009 COMPUTING THE TOTAL INCOME OF THE ASSESSEE AT .19,78,039/ - 3. THERE WAS A SEARCH UNDER SECTION 132 OF THE ACT IN THE PREMISES OF ASSESSEE S ASSOCIATES SHRI S. THALAVAI PANDIYAN AND SMT. JAYANTHI KRISHNAMOORTHY. EVIDENCES OF CERTAIN TRANSA CTIONS BETWEEN THE ASSESSEE AND THE SEARCH PARTIES WERE FOUND IN THE COURSE OF SEARCH. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE INVESTIGATION DIRECTORATE HAS CONDUCTED THOROUGH INVESTIGATION AND SUBMITTED ITS DETAILED REPORTS OF CONCEALMENT OF TOTAL AMOUNT OF .10.19 CRORES IN T HE HANDS OF THE ASSESSEE. THEREAFTER, BOTH THE ASSESSMENTS WERE REOPENED UNDER SECTION 147 OF THE ACT BY SERVING NOTICE UNDER SECTION 148 OF THE ACT. AFTER CONSIDERING THE SUBMISSIONS OF THE ASSESSEE AND DISCUSSING VARIOUS ISSUES, THE ASSESSING OFFICER HAS COMPLETED THE REASSESSMENT UNDER SECTION 143(3) R.W.S. 147 OF THE ACT BY MAKING ADDITION OF .4.90 CRORES FOR THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2007 - 08 AND THE BALANCE OF .5.29 CRORES IN THE ASSESSMENT YEAR 2008 - 09. I.T.A. NO S . 580 & 581 /M/17 3 4. THE ASSESSEE CARRIED THE MATTERS IN APPEAL BEFO RE THE LD. CIT(A). DESPITE GIVING VARIOUS OPPORTUNITIES OF HEARING TO THE ASSESSEE FROM 11.07.2013 TO 20.01.2017, THERE WAS NO PROPER REPRESENTATION BEFORE THE LD. CIT(A). THEREFORE, BY APPLYING THE DECISION IN THE CASE OF CIT V. MULTIPLAN (INDIA) PVT. LTD . 38 ITD 320 (DEL), THE LD. CIT(A) DISMISSED BOTH THE APPEALS FILED BY THE ASSESSEE. 5 . ON BEING AGGRIEVED, THE ASSESSEE IS IN APPEAL BEFORE THE TRIBUNAL . BY REFERRING TO THE GROUNDS OF APPEAL, THE LD. COUNSEL FOR THE ASSESSEE HAS SUBMITTED THAT THE LD. CIT(A) HAS NOT ADJUDICATED THE ISSUES RAISED BEFORE HIM ON MERITS AND PRAYED THAT NECESSARY DIRECTIONS MAY BE GIVEN TO THE LD. CIT(A) TO ADJUDICATE THE ISSUE BY GIVING ONE MORE OPPORTUNITY OF BEING HEARD TO THE ASSESSEE SUBMIT HIS CASE BEFORE THE LD. C IT(A). 6 . ON THE OTHER HAND, THE LD. DR HAS SUBMITTED THAT THE ASSESSEE WAS GIVEN SUFFICIENT OPPORTUNITIES TO PRESENT HIS CASE BEFORE THE LD. CIT(A) AND NO REASONABLE CAUSE WAS GIVEN FOR NON - APPEARANCE . 7 . WE HAVE HEARD BOTH SIDES, PERUSED THE MATERI ALS AVAILABLE ON RECORD AND GONE THROUGH THE ORDERS OF AUTHORITIES BELOW. IT IS EVIDENT FROM THE APPELLATE ORDER THAT THE LD. CIT(A) HAS GIVEN SUFFICIENT OPPORTUNITY TO THE ASSESSEE TO PRESENT HIS CASE BEFORE THE LD. CIT(A), BUT NOT AVAILED OF BY THE ASSE SSEE. AT THE SAME TIME, WE FIND THAT THE LD. CIT(A) HAS NOT ADJUDICATED I.T.A. NO S . 580 & 581 /M/17 4 THE GROUND RAISED BY THE ASSESSEE BEFORE HIM ON MERITS, WHICH IS FOUND TO BE UNFAIR . UNDER THE ABOVE FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES, WE DIRECT THE LD. CIT(A) TO ADJUDICATE THE GROUNDS RAISED IN BOTH THE APPEALS ON MERITS BASED ON THE MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON RECORD WITH SIX MONTHS FROM THE DATE OF ORDER THIS ORDER, WHETHER OR NOT THE ASSESSEE PRESENT HIS CASE BEFORE THE LD. CIT(A). THE ASSESSEE IS ALSO DIRECTED NOT TO SEEK ADJOURNMENT FOR JUST C AUSE AND ADVISED TO COOPERATE WITH THE DEPARTMENT. THUS, BOTH THE APPEAL S FILED BY THE ASSESSEE ARE ALLOWED FOR STATISTICAL PURPOSES. 8 . IN THE RESULT, BOTH THE APPEAL S FILED BY THE ASSESSEE ARE ALLOWED FOR STATISTICAL PURPOSES . ORDER PRONOUNCED ON THE 28 TH JULY , 201 7 AT CHENNAI. SD/ - SD/ - ( CHANDRA POOJARI ) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER ( DUVVURU RL REDDY ) JUDICIAL MEMBER CHENNAI, DATED, THE 28 . 0 7 .201 7 V M/ - / COPY TO: 1. / APPELLANT , 2. / RESPONDENT , 3. ( ) / CIT(A) , 4. / CIT , 5. / DR & 6. / GF.