SHREE SARVODAY CREDIT CO-OP SOCIETY LIMITED,OFFICE NO V. .TO WD 1(2)(1), RAJKOT

ITA 573/RJT/2024

AI Insights

The case involves Shree Sarvoday Credit Co-op. Society Limited, the appellant, contesting an ex parte order passed under section 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by the Assessing Officer for the Assessment Year 2017-18. The appellant failed to appear before the CIT(A) and thus could not submit required details and documents, leading to another ex parte order. The Tribunal noted the absence of a proper hearing and the non-compliance with section 250(6) of the Act, which mandates a speaking order after a proper hearing. The Tribunal decided to restore the matter to the Assessing Officer for a fresh examination, adhering to the principles of natural justice.

• Counselvise Citation: [2024] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 33868 (ITAT-RAJKOT)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 19-12-2024
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: DB
• Assessment Year: 2017-2018
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: ABHIMANYU SINGH YADAV; LD.
• Assessee Lawyers: CHETAN AGARWAL
• Keywords: Set aside; Opportunity of being heard; Principle of natural justice
• Section: 144

Judgement Text

"IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, RAJKOT BENCH, RAJKOT BEFORE DR. ARJUN LAL SAINI, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SHRI DINESH MOHAN SINHA, JUDICIAL MEMBER आयकर अपील सं./ITA No. 573/RJT/2024 (Assessment Year: 2017-18) (Hybrid Hearing) Shree SarvodayCredit Co-op. Society Limited Khodiyar Comp Rajput, Rajkot, Gujarat - 360001 Vs. Income Tax Officer Ward-1(2)(1), Rajkot èथायीलेखासं./जीआइआरसं./PAN/GIR No.: AAKAS8292F (अपीलाथȸ/Appellant) (Ĥ×यथȸ/Respondent) Ǔनधा[ǐरतीकȧओरसे/Assessee by : Shri Chetan Agarwal, AR राजèवकȧओरसे/Revenue by : Shri Abhimanyu Singh Yadav, Ld. Sr. DR सुनवाईकȧतारȣख/ Date of Hearing : 16/12/2024 घोषणाकȧतारȣख/Date of Pronouncement : 19/12/2024 आदेश/ORDER PER DINESH MOHAN SINHA, JM: Captioned appeal filed by the assessee, pertaining to Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18, is directed against the order passed by the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), [in short “the ld. CIT(A)”], National Faceless Appeal Centre (in short ‘the NFAC’), Delhi, dated 13.12.2023, which in turn arises out of an assessment order passed by the Assessing Officer u/s 144 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”), dated 23.11.2019. 2. At the outset, the Ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that the order passed by the Assessing Officer is under section 144 of the Act (ex parte order). On appeal, before the ld. CIT(A), the assessee could not I.T.A No. 573/Rjt/2024 A.Y. 2017-18 Shree Sarvoday Credit Co-op. Society Ltd. vs. ITO 2 appear and could not submit the details and documents, therefore ld. CIT(A) has also passed the ex parte order. The Ld. Counsel for the assessee therefore contended that now the assessee is ready to submit details and documents before the lower authorities, therefore, the matter may be remitted back to the file of Assessing Officer for fresh adjudication. 3. On the other hand, learned Senior Departmental Representative (ld. Sr. DR) for the Revenue argued that assessee did not appear before the ld. CIT(A), hence assessee should not be given further innings, therefore assessee’s appeal may be dismissed. 4. We have heard both the parties. Considering the above facts, we note that assessee could not plead his case successfully before the ld. CIT(A). We also note that Ld. CIT(A) has not passed the order as per the mandate of provisions of section 250(6) of the Act. We also note that assessee did not submit entire documents and evidences before the Assessing Officer. Hence, we are of the view that one more opportunity should be given to the assessee to plead his case before the Assessing Officer. We note that it is settled law that principles of natural justice and fair play require that the affected party is granted sufficient opportunity of being heard to contest his case. Therefore, without delving much deeper into the merits of the case, in the interest of justice, we restore the matter back to the file of Assessing Officer for de novo adjudication and pass a speaking order after affording sufficient opportunity of being heard to the assessee, who in turn, is also directed to contest his stand forthwith. Therefore, we deem it fit and proper to set aside the order of the ld. CIT(A) and remit the matter back to the file of the Assessing Officer to I.T.A No. 573/Rjt/2024 A.Y. 2017-18 Shree Sarvoday Credit Co-op. Society Ltd. vs. ITO 3 adjudicate the issue afresh on merits. For statistical purposes, the appeal of the assessee is treated as allowed. 5. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open court on 19-12-2024 Sd/- Sd/- (A. L. SAINI) (DINESH MOHAN SINHA) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER Rajkot Dated: 19/12/2024 आदेश कȧ ĤǓतͧलͪप अĒेͪषत / Copy of Order Forwarded to:- 1. Assessee 2. Revenue 3. Concerned CIT 4. CIT (A) 5. DR, ITAT, Rajkot 6. Guard file. By order/आदेश से, Assistant Registrar / Sr. PS ITAT, Rajkot "