TAMILNADU GOLF FEDERATION,CHENNAI V. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR EXEMPTIONS, CHENNAI

ITA 1522/CHNY/2024

AI Insights

The case involves the Tamil Nadu Golf Federation appealing against an ex parte order by the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), which was passed without considering the merits of the case due to the assessee's non-appearance. The Federation claimed that they did not receive the notices for the hearing, which led to their inability to present their case. The Tribunal recognized the violation of natural justice and the statutory right of the assessee to a fair hearing, leading to the decision to set aside the previous order and remand the case for a fresh hearing.

• Counselvise Citation: [2024] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 29847 (ITAT-CHENNAI)
• Duration Of Justice: 4 month(s) 19 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 09-10-2024
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: A
• Next Hearing Date: 20-08-2024
• Assessment Year: 2018-2019
• Appeal Filed On: 20-05-2024
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: SAMUEL PITTA
• Assessee Lawyers: V. RAVICHANDRAN
• Keywords: Set aside

Judgement Text

" आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण, ‘ए’ \u0001यायपीठ, चे\tई। IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL ‘A’ BENCH: CHENNAI \u0001ी एबी टी. वक , \u000bाियक सद\u0011 एवं एवं एवं एवं \u0001ी मनोज क ुमार अ\u0019वाल, लेखा सद\u0007 क े सम\u001d BEFORE SHRI ABY T. VARKEY, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND SHRI MANOJ KUMAR AGGARWAL, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER आयकर अपील सं./ITA No.1522/Chny/2024 िनधा\u000eरण वष\u000e/Assessment Year: 2018-19 Tamilnadu Golf Federation, 334, Anna Salai Nandanam, Chennai-600 015. v. The Assistant Director (Exemptions), Chennai. [PAN: AAATT 2341 K] (अपीलाथ\u0016/Appellant) (\u0017\u0018यथ\u0016/Respondent) अपीलाथ\u0016 क\u001a ओर से/ Appellant by : Mr.V. Ravichandran, CA \u0017\u0018यथ\u0016 क\u001a ओर से /Respondent by : Dr. Samuel Pitta, JCIT सुनवाईक\u001aतारीख/Date of Hearing : 20.08.2024 घोषणाक\u001aतारीख /Date of Pronouncement : 09.10.2024 आदेश / O R D E R PER ABY T. VARKEY, JM: This is an appeal preferred by the assessee Tamil Nadu Golf Federation against the order of the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/NFAC, (hereinafter in short \"the Ld.CIT(A)”), Delhi, dated 30.03.2024 for the Assessment Year (hereinafter in short \"AY”) 2018-19. ITA No.1522/Chny/2024 (AY 2018-19) Tamilnadu Golf Federation :: 2 :: 2. At the outset, the Ld.AR of the assessee pointed out that the Ld.CIT(A) has passed an ex parte order qua assessee without going into the merits of the grounds of appeal that has been raised by the assessee. According to the Ld.AR, since assessee Tamil Nadu Golf Federation didn’t receive the notice of hearing issued to it, they couldn’t present their case before the Ld.CIT(A). Therefore, it was prayed that one more opportunity may be granted to the assessee before the Ld.CIT(A). 3. Per contra, the Ld.DR doesn’t want us to give one more innings to the assessee. 4. Aggrieved, the assessee is in appeal before this Tribunal. 5. We have heard both the parties and perused the material available on record. We note that the assessee Tamil Nadu Golf Federation is a society enjoying registration u/s.12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter in short \"the Act\") from 2003 onwards and claimed to be availing exemption u/s.11 of the Act for all the assessment years. The assessee e-filed its return of income on 29.09.2018 admitting ‘NIL’ income which was selected for scrutiny through CASS and the AO computed total income at Rs.3,21,54,355/- by order dated 19.04.2021 u/s.143(3) read with section 144B of the Act. Aggrieved, the assessee preferred an appeal before the Ld.CIT(A) who was pleased to dismiss it on the ground that the assessee failed to respond to three of his notices ITA No.1522/Chny/2024 (AY 2018-19) Tamilnadu Golf Federation :: 3 :: issued on 29.01.2024, 19.02.2024 & 05.03.2024. Therefore, he was pleased to dismiss the appeal of the assessee ex-parte qua assessee by passing impugned order. According to the assessee, it didn’t receive any notices of hearing and therefore, couldn’t file written submission / relevant documents before the NFAC. According to the Ld.AR, non- appearance /participation was not deliberate and there was violation of natural justice, because, the Ld.CIT(A) has passed the impugned order without hearing the assessee and without going into the merits of the grounds of appeal raised by it. Be that as it may, we find that the Ld.CIT(A) has not passed the order in accordance to sub-section (6) of sec.250 of the Act, which he was duty bound to do. It should be borne in mind that if an assessee is aggrieved by the action of the AO, then he has a statutory right to prefer an appeal before the First Appellate Authority/Ld.CIT(A) and if the Ld.CIT(A) doesn’t give proper opportunity of hearing to the assessee, then such statutory right would be rendered meaningless and would be illusory. In the light of the above discussion, we deem it fit to set aside the impugned order of the Ld.CIT(A) and restore the appeal back to the file of the Ld.CIT(A) with a direction to adjudicate the grounds of appeal in accordance to law after hearing the assessee. The Ld.AR undertakes to file written submissions/relevant documents to substantiate the grounds of appeal raised before the First Appellate Authority. The Ld.CIT(A) to hear the assessee and adjudicate ITA No.1522/Chny/2024 (AY 2018-19) Tamilnadu Golf Federation :: 4 :: the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee in accordance to law and to pass speaking order. 6. In the result, appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced on the 09th day of October, 2024, in Chennai. Sd/- (मनोज क ुमार अ\u0019वाल) (MANOJ KUMAR AGGARWAL) लेखा सद\u0003य/ACCOUNTANT MEMBER Sd/- (एबी टी. वक ) (ABY T. VARKEY) \u0005याियक सद\u0003य/JUDICIAL MEMBER चे\tई/Chennai, !दनांक/Dated: 09th October, 2024. TLN, Sr.PS आदेश क\u001a \u0017ितिलिप अ$ेिषत/Copy to: 1. अपीलाथ\f/Appellant 2. \r\u000eथ\f/Respondent 3. आयकरआयु\u0014/CIT, Chennai / Madurai / Salem / Coimbatore. 4. िवभागीय\rितिनिध/DR 5. गाड\u001dफाईल/GF "