R.R. Fleet Management Pvt. Ltd, Haryana V. ITO ward-3(3), Gurgoan

ITA 6359/DEL/2019

AI Insights

The case involves M/s R.R. Fleet Management Pvt. Ltd., which appealed against the order of the Ld. CIT (Appeals)-02, Gurgaon, confirming a penalty imposed by the Income Tax Officer under section 271(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act for the Assessment Year 2015-16. The penalty was based on estimated profits due to the rejection of the assessee's books of account. The Tribunal noted that the specific charge of concealment of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars was not clearly specified in the penalty notice, a point raised by the assessee both at the CIT(A) level and before the Tribunal. The Tribunal decided to remit this specific issue back to the Ld. CIT(A) for a detailed examination and ruling.

• Counselvise Citation: [2023] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 121850 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 3 year(s) 6 month(s) 15 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 13-02-2023
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: PartlyAllowed
• Bench Allotted: F
• Next Hearing Date: 07-02-2023
• Assessment Year: 2015-2016
• Appeal Filed On: 28-07-2019
• Other Referred Cases: Union of India vs Dharmendra Textiles and Processors (2008) 306 ITR 277 (SC)
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Keywords: Opportunity of being heard
• Section: 271(1)(c)

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH, ‘F’: NEW DELHI BEFORE SHRI SHAMIM YAHYA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND Ms. ASTHA CHANDRA, JUDICIAL MEMBER ITA No.6359/DEL/2019 [Assessment Year: 2015-16] M/s R.R. Fleet Management Pvt. Ltd. C/o.-M/s R.R. Fleet Management Pvt. Ltd. D-28, South Extension, Part-1, New Delhi-110049 Vs Income Tax Officer, Ward-3(3), Gurgaon, Haryana-122001 PAN-AAFCR4483G Assessee Revenue Assessee by None Revenue by Ms. Princy Singla, Sr. DR Date of Hearing 08.02.2023 Date of Pronouncement 14.02.2023 ORDER PER SHAMIM YAHYA, AM, This appeal by the assessee is directed against the order of ld. CIT (Appeals)-02, Gurgaon, dated 30.05.2019 for the Assessment Year 2015- 16 2. The grounds of appeal read as under:- 1. That having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law and on facts in confirming the action of Ld. AO in imposing penalty of Rs.5,44,446/- u/s 271(1)(c) and framing the impugned penalty order without considering the facts and circumstances of the case and without proving adequate opportunity of being heard and without observing the principle of natural justice. 2. That having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law and on facts in not quashing the impugned penalty order passed by Ld. AO us 271(1)(c) and that too 2 ITA NO.6359/DEL/2019 without assuming jurisdiction as per law and the impugned penalty order being illegal, void ab initio and against the facts and circumstances of the case. 3. That in any case and in any view of the matter, action of Ld. CIT(A) in confirming the action of Ld. AO in imposing penalty w/s 271(1)(c), is bad in law and against the facts and circumstance of the case and having been imposed on the estimated addition. 4. That having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, Ld. CIT(A) has erred in law and on facts in confirming the action of Ld. AO in imposing penalty and passing the impugned penalty order and that too without recording the mandatory 'satisfaction' as per law and without levying a clear charge whether there was concealment of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income and without the valid approval of Ld. JCIT.” 3. Brief facts of the case leading to penalty in this case are that the AO rejected the books of account of the assessee for failure to submit the complete details. The AO proceeded to estimate profit @3% of gross turnover as per the past assessment history and made addition on this count. Penalty u/s 271(1)(c) of the Act was also levied. 4. Upon assessee’s appeal, the Ld. CIT(A) referring to the decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Union of India vs Dharmendra Textiles and Processors (2008) 306 ITR 277 (SC) confirmed the levy of penalty. 5. Against this order the assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal. 6. We have heard the Ld. DR and perused the records. None appeared on behalf of the assessee despite several notices. We note that one of the ground raised before the Ld. CIT(A) was the non-specification of charge in the notice of penalty, whether there was concealment of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income. In this regard, ground no.3 raised before the Ld. CIT(A) reads as under:- 3 ITA NO.6359/DEL/2019 “3. That having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, Ld. AO has erred in law and on facts in imposing the impugned penalty and passing the impugned penalty order and that too without recording the mandatory “satisfaction” as per law and without levying a clear charge whether there was concealment of income or furnishing of inaccurate particulars.” 7. We have perused the entire order of the Ld. CIT(A) and we note that nowhere, this aspect has been dealt with. Before us, also the assessee has raised this ground. However for proper adjudication of this ground reference to factual records is necessary, hence in the interest of justice, we remit this issue to the file of the Ld. CIT(A). We are of the opinion that adjudicating part of the appeal and remitting the other part of the appeal to the file of the Ld. CIT(A) will lead to multiplicity of proceeding and hence we are refraining to do that. The Ld. CIT(A) is directed to complete his order by adjudicating the ground relating to non-specification of charge in the penalty notice. After the order of the Ld. CIT(A) is complete, either of the parties may approach appellate forum for relief as deemed necessary. 8. In the result, this appeal of the assessee is partly allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open court on 14 th February, 2023. Sd/- Sd/- [ASTHA CHANDRA] [SHAMIM YAHYA] JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER Delhi; Dated: 14.02.2023. f{x~{tÜ? f{x~{tÜ?f{x~{tÜ? f{x~{tÜ? 4 ITA NO.6359/DEL/2019 Copy forwarded to: 1. Appellant 2. Respondent 3. CIT 4. CIT(A) 5. DR Asst. Registrar, ITAT, New Delhi