SARLADEVI SURESH GUPTA,IGATPURI NASHIK MH IN V. INCOME TAX OFFICER WARD 1(2) NASHIK, KENDRIYA RAJASWA BHAWAN OLD AGRA ROAD NASHIK

MA 41/PUN/2024

AI Insights

This case involves a miscellaneous application filed by Sarladevi Suresh Gupta, seeking the recall of an ex-parte order passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Pune. The ex-parte order was issued due to the non-appearance of the assessee at a scheduled hearing. The assessee provided reasons for her non-appearance, citing a lack of notice for the hearing date. The Tribunal considered the circumstances and the submissions made, including the absence of notice to the assessee for the hearing on 12.04.2024, and decided to recall the ex-parte order and restore the appeal for a full hearing on its merits.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 472587 (ITAT-PUNE)
• Appeal Type: Miscellaneous Application
• Pronouncement Date: 18-03-2025
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: SMC
• Assessment Year: 2017-2018
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963, Income Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: VISHAL A MAKAWANE
• Assessee Lawyers: JAYANT R BHATT; PARTH BHATT
• Keywords: Set aside; Reasonable cause
• Section: 20

Judgement Text

" आयकर अपीलीय अधिकरण “एस.एम.सी”न्यायपीठ पुणे में । IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL “SMC” BENCH, PUNE BEFORE SHRI MANISH BORAD, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND MS. ASTHA CHANDRA, JUDICIAL MEMBER आयकर अपील सं. / MA No.41/PUN/2024 (Arising out of ITA No.1360/PUN/2023) धििाारण वर्ा / Assessment Year: 2017-18 Sarladevi Suresh Gupta, C/o S M Gupta & Sons Railway Stn. Canteen, Igatpuri District, Nashik - 422 403 PAN : AGDPG9296R Vs. ITO, Ward – 1(2), Nashik अपीलार्थी /Applicant प्रत्यर्थी / Respondent Assessee by : Shri Jayant R Bhatt & Parth Bhatt Department by : Shri Vishal A Makawane Date of hearing : 17-01-2025 Date of Pronouncement : 18-03-2025 आदेश / ORDER PER ASTHA CHANDRA, JM : This miscellaneous application has been filed by the assessee seeking recall of ex-parte order dated 17.04.2024 in ITA No.1360/PUN/2023 for the Assessment Year 2017-18 under the provisions of Rule 24 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963 read with section 254 of the Income Act,1961. 2. The appeal was partly allowed by the Tribunal due to non appearance of the assessee on 12.04.2024, the date fixed for hearing before the Tribunal. Now in this miscellaneous application the assessee has shown reasons for his non- appearance on that date with a request to recall the ex-parte order dated 17.04.2024 of the Tribunal and hear the appeal on its merit. 3. The Ld. AR reiterated the reasons for non-appearance stated in the miscellaneous application filed by the assessee which is reproduced below: “I Smt. Sarladevi Suresh Gupta (Appellant') would like to respectfully submit as under- This Miscellaneous Application under Rule 24 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules 1963 is arising out of an order, passed exparte, by the Hon'ble ITAT, Pune SMC Bench in ITA No. 1360/Pun/2023 (AY 2017-18) on 17 April, 2024, pursuant to the ex-parte hearing in the appeal held on 12 April, 2024 wherein the said order of the Ld. CIT(A), National Faceless Appeal Centre bearing 2 M.A. No. 41/PUN/2024 (Arising out of ITA No.1360/PUN/2023, AY 2017-18 DIN: ITBA/NFAC/S/2502023-24/1057211659(1) dated 19 October, 2023 in the first appeal is modified by the Hon'ble SMC Bench of the ITAT Pune, to the extent of confirming the addition of Rs. 10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten Lacs Only) to the income of the Appellant Assessee as against an addition of Rs. 14,50,000/- (Rupees Fourteen Lacs Fifty Thousand Only) confirmed by the Ld CIT(A) National Faceless Appeal Centre along with other observations and directions made therein and the appeal of the Assessee has been thereby partly allowed where the Hon'ble Tribunal has confirmed the total addition of Rs.10,00,000/- (Rupees Ten Lacs Only) and deleted the addition of Rs.4,50,000/- (Rupees Four Lac and Fifty Thousand Only). In this regard I would like to state that on filing of the said appeal with the Hon'ble ITAT Pune SMC Bench on 12 December, 2023, the notice of the first hearing of the aforesaid appeal scheduled for 20 March, 2024 was issued by the Hon'ble Superintendent/Office Superintendent, ITAT Pune for the said appeal vide an email communication dated 28 February, 2024, fixing the date of the first hearing on 20th March, 2004, which notice was received by me on mail on the 28 February, 2004, and that the some was notified to my authorised Representatives on 28 February, 2003 through email. A copy of the email dated 28th February, 2024 received from the Hon’ble ITAT Pune Superintendent notifying the date of hearing scheduled for 20th March, 2004 is attached herewith as Exhibit I. Thereafter, on the 18th of March, 2024, the Appellant Assessee uploaded a request for a sheet adjournment online on the ITAT e-filing portal citing that since my authorized representatives being my appointed Chartered Accountant /Advocate were travelling, it would not be feasible for them to attend the hearing scheduled for the 20th March, 2004. It was thereby humbly requested that in light of such circumstances, your honourable self may kindly consider an adjournment for the hearing to a later date in April 2024, preferably during the second week thereof. The said letter requesting for such a short adjournment dated 18thMarch, 2024 was also physically sent to the office of the Hon'ble Superintendent, ITAT Pune for his notice and intimation. The copy of the request for adjournment so filed online and proof of physical dispatch of the said letter is attached herewith as Exhibit II. It is hereby humbly stated that thereafter, I have not received any notice of the subsequent hearing of my appeal scheduled for Friday the 12th April, 2024 whether by mail or otherwise physically and therefore I was completely unaware of the fact that the subsequent hearing of my appeal viz, ITA NO. 1360/PUN/2023 was scheduled for 12th April, 2024, due to which on the subsequent hearing held on the 12th of April, 2024, my authorized representatives could not attend to the said matter and remain present in the hearing. Consequently the appeal was heard ex-parte on 12 of April, 2024 and an order was pronounced on 17th April, 2024. I only came to know of the disposal of my appeal vide order dated 17 April, 2024 only when I suo-moto checked online for the status of the appeal and upon such verification, found out of such order having being passed and thereafter downloaded the copy of the said order from the e filing portal on 20th April, 2004, which is the date on which I received the copy of the order in appeal passed by the Hon'ble SMC Bench, ITAT Pune in ITA NO.1360/PUN/2023. This is to state and submit that even as of the date of this application, I have still not received any official mail communication or physical intimation by post or in any other manner, any communication notifying me of the final order passed by the Hon'ble SMC Bench of the ITAT Pune 3 M.A. No. 41/PUN/2024 (Arising out of ITA No.1360/PUN/2023, AY 2017-18 on 17th April, 2024 in ITA NO 1360/PUN/2023 pursuant to the ex-parte hearing held in my appeal on 12 April. 2024. It is in these circumstances that the I am filing this Miscellaneous Application under Rule 24 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963 seeking to set aside the ex-parte order dated 17 April, 2024 in ITA NO. 1360/PUN/2023 and to restore the said appeal so that the appeal can be heard on merits and on law and the Appellant Assessee is accorded an opportunity to effectively present his case and make submissions. It would be apt to hereby state that the notice of 28 February, 2024 was the first and only notice of any hearing received by me in my case and thereafter no notice of the subsequent hearing dated 12 April, 2024 was received by me either on mail or otherwise and thereby the said hearing on 12 April, 2024 could not be attended and that the matter was heard ex-parte on 12 April, 2024 and the order has been passed ex-parte on 17 April, 2024 (downloaded from the website). It is to further submit that the non-compliance of attending the hearing is not attributed to any malafide or intentional omission on my part and the said non- compliance is on account of a reasonable cause of such non-attendance of my Ld. Authorised Representative, being the fact that the we did not receive any notice of the hearing of the said appeal scheduled for 12 April, 2024, whether on mail or by way of any physical communication and came to know of the disposal of the said appeal only when the order dated 17 April, 2024 was downloaded by me from the ITAT e-portal on 20 April, 2024 while checking for the status of the said appeal In light of the aforesaid facts, it is humbly requested that Your Honour recall and/or set aside the ex-parte order dated 17th April, 2024 in ITA NO 1360/PUN/2023 and restore the said appeal. So far as the appeal ITA NO, 1360/PUN/2023 of the Appellant Assessee for AY 2017-18 is concerned, the AO and the CIT(A) NFAC while considering the deposits in bank account by the Appellant Assessee during demonetization, has not considered the withdrawal of this cash from the Assessee's own bank account out of her own disclosed income so deposited during the demonetization period and has considered the same as unexplained money whereas the Appellant Assessee has submitted records to prove that the said cash was out of her disclosed income, savings and withdrawals from her bank account. Thereby your Honour is humbly requested to set aside the said ex-parte Order dated 17 April, 2024 and restore the appeal ITA NO. 1360/PUN/2023 for the Appellant Assessee to make submissions on merits and in law. Thereby I humbly pray to Your Honour as follows: 1. Your Honour may be pleased to recall and set aside the Ex-parte order passed in ITA NO. 1360/PUN/2023 on 17th April, 2024. 2. Your honour may be pleased to pass orders for such further and other reliefs as the nature, facts and circumstances of the case may require. Enclosed: 1. Exhibit I: A copy of the email dated 28th February, 2024 received from the Hon'ble ITAT Pune Superintendent notifying the date of hearing scheduled for 20th March, 2024. 2. Exhibit II: The copy of the request of adjournment dated 18th March, 2024 so filed online and proof of physical dispatch of the said letter.” 4. The Ld. DR had no objection to the above request of the Ld. AR. 4 M.A. No. 41/PUN/2024 (Arising out of ITA No.1360/PUN/2023, AY 2017-18 5. We have heard the Ld. Representative of the parties, perused the material available on record and also considered the above submission of the assessee. The Ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that the assessee did not receive any notice of hearing from the Tribunal and hence could not appear on the date fixed for hearing on 12.04.2024 which resulted in the said ex-parte order. We find that there was sufficient reason for non-appearance of the assessee before the Tribunal on various dates fixed for hearing. In our considered view, there was no proper and adequate opportunity of hearing granted to the assessee to present and substantiate its case before this Tribunal. We, therefore, recall the order dated 17.04.2024 in ITA No.1360/PUN/2023 and direct the registry to fix the aforesaid appeal for hearing in due course before the Regular Bench. The fresh date of hearing shall be informed to both the parties by issue of notice of hearing by the registry. 6. In the result, the miscellaneous application of the assessee is allowed. Order pronounced in the open court on 18th March, 2025. Sd/- Sd/- (Manish Borad) (Astha Chandra) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER पुणे / Pune; दिन ांक / Dated : 18th March, 2025. आदेश की प्रधिधलधप अग्रेधर्ि / Copy of the Order forwarded to : 1. अपील र्थी / The Appellant. 2. प्रत्यर्थी / The Respondent. 3. The Pr. CIT concerned. 4. दिभ गीय प्रदिदनदि, आयकर अपीलीय अदिकरण, “एस.एम.सी” बेंच, पुणे / DR, ITAT, “SMC” Bench, Pune. 5. ग र्ड फ़ इल / Guard File. //सत्य दपि प्रदि// True Copy// आिेश नुस र / BY ORDER, िररष्ठदनजीसदचि / Sr. Private Secretary आयकरअपीलीयअदिकरण ,पुणे/ ITAT, Pune "