Fiserv India P.Ltd, Pune V. ACIT, New Delhi

ITA 910/DEL/2022

• Counselvise Citation: [2024] 100 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 0370 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 2 year(s) 3 month(s) 3 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 06-08-2024
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: I
• Next Hearing Date: 06-08-2024
• Assessment Year: misc
• Appeal Filed On: 03-05-2022
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: BHOGENDRA PRASAD
• Section: 92C; 144C; 20

Judgement Text

IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “I” DELHI BEFORE SHRI PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SHRI NARINDER KUMAR, JUDICIAL MEMBER I.T.A. No.910/DEL/2022 Assessment Year 2016-17 Fiserv India Private Limited Ground, First, Second and Third Floor, Trion Business Park, Nagar Road, Vadgoansheri, Pune Maharashtra. Vs. The Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Circle-791) C.R. Building, IP Estate New Delhi TAN/PAN: AACCR0787L (Appellant) (Respondent) Appellant by: Shri Vishal Kalra, Advocate Ms. Sumisha Murgai, AR Mr. Kashish Gupta, AR Respondent by: Shri Bhogendra Prasad, CIT-DR Date of hearing: 07 08 2024 Date of pronouncement: 07 08 2024 O R D E R PER : NARINDER KUMAR, J.M. A ssessee - a pri vate L imite d c ompa ny- has chal le nged orde r dated 09.0 3. 2022 passed b y L ea rn ed CIT (A), D elhi-44. 2. V ide i mpugne d order, L earned C I T(A) has dis mi ss ed the appea l fi led b y the assess ee i n res pect of asses s men t ye a r 2016- 17. 3. Befo re L d. CI T(A ), the ass essee had chal le nged asses s ment order da ted 6.2.2020 pa ssed b y Ass is tant Com mi ss io ner o f Income Tax, Circle 9( 1), New D elhi, under sect io n 1 43(3 ) rea d wit h sect io n 144C (3) of the Income T ax Act, 1961. I.T.A. No.910/Del/2022 2 V ide as sess me nt order da ted 6. 2. 202 0, t otal inc ome of the assessee w as c omputed a nd as agai nst the decla re d inco me of Rs. 73, 19,78, 280/ -t ota l income of t he assessee w as assessed a t Rs. 73, 79,04, 860/-. 3. 1 In a ddi tio n t he reto , dire ct i ons for ch ar ging o f i nterest unde r sect io ns 234A , 234B, 234C a nd 23 4D of t he A ct, 1961, w ere issu ed a nd eve n penal ty pr oc eedi ngs u/s 271( 1)(c) of the A ct w ere separ at el y ini tia ted. 4. T he ass essee c ompan y is en gaged in the b us iness of pro vi din g so ftware development s e rvices, conversion, data e nt r y and i mpl e mentati on o f s oftw a re t o i ts A E-M /s F iserv G lobal Ser vices Inc. 5. I t ma y be me nt i oned here th at o n a reference b ei ng ma de to the DC IT, T PO-1(2)(2), N ew D elhi, for dete rmi ni ng ar m’s l engt h pric e under secti on 92C A (3) of t he A ct, in respec t o f inte rnat io nal trans ac tions e nter ed into b y the as ses see, duri ng the financ ia l yea r 2015-16. 5. 1 D CIT, T PO vide orde r dated 31. 10. 2019 pas sed unde r sect io n 92 CA of the A ct, exa mi ned t he issue involved and dete rmined the dif fe re nce in a rm’s le ngt h pric e of the inte rn at iona l t ra nsact ions of the assessee wit h its associa ted ente rpr ises at Rs. 32,00, 470/ -. 5. 2 O n its bas is, A ssessing Of fice r ma de an addi t ion of Rs. 32, 00,470/-. 5. 3 V ide assess me nt order, t he A ssessi ng O fficer als o dis al low ed a s um of Rs. 11,5 6, 521/ -; Rs. 3, 26, 160/ -; R s. 196,8 75/ - I.T.A. No.910/Del/2022 3 and Rs. 10, 46, 549/ - as desc ribed therein. 6. Feeli ng a ggr ie ve d b y the a bove said asses s ment orde r, assessee prefer re d appeal be fo re Learned CIT (A ), but di d not get an y res pi te there. 6. 1 A nd, that is h ow , the ass essee i s befo re this Appellate Trib una l b y wa y of pres ent appeal. 7. A rg uments heard. File peruse d. 8. L earned A R for the as sesse e has put fo rt h onl y one submiss ion i. e. that the i mp ugne d ord er passe d by Lea rned C IT (A ) is an e x-pa rte order, same having been passed w it hout affording reas o nab le oppo rtuni t y to t he assess ee-a ppel lant. L earned A R has po inte d o ut that i n reply to t he l ast tw o noti ces da te d 25. 10. 202 1 an d 1. 2. 2022 iss ued b y the offic e of Learne d C IT (A), adjournme nt w as sought on b eh al f of the assessee-appe llant, as ma te ri al w as t o be collected b y th e asses see fro m mul tiple s ources, but in the i mp ug ne d or de r, it has not been co rrectl y recor de d tha t t he re w as no request f or adjou rnment fro m the a ppella nt for t he said tw o date s, and as such, the i mp ugne d order de serve s to be set aside, and t he mat ter ma y be r emanded to Learne d C IT (A ) for decis ion a fres h, after pro vidin g reas onable opportunit y of bei ng he ard, to the appella nt. 9. A s fi nds rec orded i n pa ra 4 o f the i mpugne d order, the o ffi ce of Learned C IT(A ) iss ued fi rs t no ti ce to the ap pel lant on 22. 1. 2021. H ow ever, the appel la nt sou ght adj ourn ment . Same w as granted, as reques t ed. I.T.A. No.910/Del/2022 4 9. 1 Seco nd noti ce da ted 9. 2. 2021 w as i ssued l isti ng t he ma tter for 26. 2. 2021. A gain, t he ap pe lla nt sought a dj ourn ment and the appea l was adjourned. 9. 2 T hi rd n otic e d at ed 3. 3. 2021 w as is sue d fo r 1. 4.20 21, but none a ppeared o n behal f of the a ppe lla nt. Neither the re w as an y re quest f or adj ourn me nt n or an y re pl y w as file d on i ts be hal f. 9. 3 H ow ever, another noti ce date d 25.1 0. 2021 w as served up on the appe llant fo r 10. 11. 2021. A gain, none a ppea red before Learne d CIT (A ). The appeal w as, how eve r, adjou rned. 9. 4 U lti matel y, n ot ice dat ed 1. 2. 2022 w a s issued for 10. 2. 2022, but e ve n this ti me, neit her the re w as any resp onse no r a ppea rance on be ha lf of the appel lant. 9. 5 L earned C IT (A ) p rocee de d to dispose of the a pp eal, afte r havi ng observ ed that it appea red that the appe lla nt was not inte res ted in pu rsuing the appea l. 9. 6 T ha t is how , the appea l ca me to be dis mi ssed on merits, upholding the assess ment or der in tot o. 10. L earned D R has no t controverte d the s ubmission t hat i n re pl y t o the las t tw o notic es d at ed 25. 10. 2021 an d 1. 2. 2022 adjo urnment w as sought on behal f of the asseessee -appel lant by w ay of wr itten r equests. H e has no t op posed th e submissi on for re ma nd of the ma tter for dec is ion of t he appeal a fresh by L ea rne d CIT (A ), after p roviding anot he r opport unit y t o t he appe l lant. 11. A s noti ced above, upon ser vice of noti ces to t he app ell ant issu ed tw ice, appellant sought a dj ournme nt, an d Lear ned C IT (A ) I.T.A. No.910/Del/2022 5 all ow ed the re ques t. 12. From the i mpug ne d order, it is clear that des pite se rvi ce of 3rd noti ce iss ued thereafter, none appeared on be hal f of the appel lant. E ven there w as no request fo r adjou rnment. 13. Rec ord r eveals that w hen the las t me nt io ned tw o no tic es dated 25. 10. 2 021 and 1.2. 2022 w er e issued t o the assess ee, as pe r doc uments avai lable at page 45 and 51 of t he P ape r bo ok submit ted on beha lf of the a ppe l lant , adjo urnment was soug ht on behal f of the appel lant, i n repl y to t he sa id tw o notices. A djourn me nt w as sought on the gr ound that mat eria l w as t o be colle cte d from va ri ous source s. T he re fore, Le ar ned C IT (A ) w as not ri ght in obse rvi ng in th e impug ned orde r th at th ere was no request fo r adjou rnment fr o m the asse ssee i n r epl y to the abovesa i d 2 not ice s date d 25. 10. 20 21 and 1. 2. 2022. Rather, this o bservation is agai nst record. H ad t he tw o requests been cons ide re d and rejec te d, the n the ma tter w oul d ha ve been ot herw ise. B ut, i t is not case of the department t ha t said tw o re quests w ere co ns idered or rej ec ted or that the a ppella nt o r i ts A R was apprised of rejection of the re quests. It ap pea rs that t he tw o wr it ten re ques ts fr om the as sessee seeking adj our nme nt s ki pped from t he notice of Learned CIT (A ). But, the fact remains that the appe ll ant could n ot get reas onable opportunit y of bei ng he ard. In t his si tua tion, w e find me ri t in the onl y su bmiss ion on behal f of the ap pella nt for one oppo rtunit y to t he assessee- I.T.A. No.910/Del/2022 6 appel lant for appearance be fo re L d. C IT (A ) to put forth its submiss ions and subs tant iat e its clai m b y pro ducin g enti re re le vant recor d. 14. T ak in g i nt o c ons ide rat ion t he issues in volved and the gro unds of a ppea l ra ised b y the a ppell ant i n F orm No .35 be fore Learne d C IT (A ) a nd the othe r mat erial a va ila ble on fi le, w e dee m it a fi t cas e to provi de op portunit y to t he appe llant o f bei ng hea rd for e ffec ti ve adj udic at ion of t he sa id gr ound s, w hich have b ee n decided vide i mpugned orde r in abse nce o f the appe llant. R esult 15. In view of t he ab ove d isc ussi on, the app ea l is dispose d of for sta tis ti ca l purpose s, and as a resul t, the appeal before L ea rned CIT (A ) s hal l stan d restored to i ts ori gi na l nu mbe r, 15. 2 L earned CIT (A ) t o a fford re asonab le op port unity t o the appel lant of being hea rd and d ec ide t he appea l afr esh. File be c onsi gned to the r ecord ro om, af te r the need ful is done b y the off ice. Order pronounced in the open Court on 07/08/2024 Sd/--- Sd/- [PRADIP KUMAR KEDIA] [NARINDER KUMAR] ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER DATED: 07 /08/2024 Prabhat