VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT LTD,DELHI V. ASSESSMENT UNIT, INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT

ITA 2381/DEL/2025

AI Insights

Van Bros Construction Pvt. Ltd. appealed against the order of the CIT(Appeals)-NFAC, Delhi, which pertained to the assessment year 2019-20. The primary contention was regarding the validity of the notice issued under section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and various procedural lapses during the assessment. The assessee argued that the notice was issued after the expiry of the limitation period and incorrectly under section 148 instead of 153C. Additionally, the assessee highlighted the lack of opportunity for cross-examination and the absence of necessary documents and statements which were crucial for a fair assessment. The ITAT found that the CIT(A) had not adjudicated on these technical grounds and thus restored the appeal to the CIT(A) for a comprehensive decision on all grounds raised.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 784872 (ITAT-DELHI)
• Duration Of Justice: 7 month(s) 1 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 12-11-2025
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: A
• Assessment Year: 2019-2020
• Appeal Filed On: 10-04-2025
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: AJAY KUMAR ARORA
• Assessee Lawyers: NAGESH BEHL
• Keywords: Set aside; Period of limitation; TDS; Time period of passing order; Opportunity of cross examination; FORM 26AS
• Section: 147; 148; 144; 234B

Judgement Text

"ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 1 IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH “A” NEW DELHI BEFORE SHRI CHALLA NAGENDRA PRASAD, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND SHRI M BALAGANESH, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER आ.अ.सं/.I.T.A No.2381/Del/2025 िनधा रणवष /Assessment Year:2019-20 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD., B-113, Lajpat Nagar-1, New Delhi. PAN No.AAACV1092J बनाम Vs. ASSESSMENT UNIT Income Tax Department, National Faceless Appeal, Delhi. अपीलाथ\u0014 Appellant \u0016\u0017यथ\u0014/Respondent Assessee by Shri Nagesh Behl, Advocate Revenue by Shri Ajay Kumar Arora, Sr. DR सुनवाईक\bतारीख/ Date of hearing: 17.09.2025 उ\u000eोषणाक\bतारीख/Pronouncement on 12.11.2025 आदेश /O R D E R PER C.N. PRASAD, J.M. This appeal is filed by the Assessee against the order of the Ld. CIT(Appeals)-NFAC, Delhi dated 12.02.2025 for the AY 2019-20 has raised the following grounds: 1. “That on the facts and circumstances of the case, Notice u/s 148 issued by the Ld. AO is bad both in the eye of law as notice is issued after the expiry of limitation period, Ld. CIT(A) erred in not deciding this issue. Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 2 2. That on the facts and circumstances of the case, Notice u/s 148 issued by the Ld. AO is bad both in the eye of law as notice is issued u/s 148 instead of 153C, Ld. CIT(A) erred in not deciding this issue. 3. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the order passed by the Ld. AO u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 read with section 144B of the Act is illegal and bad in law as the same has been passed without giving opportunity of cross examination of the persons whose statement used against the assessee while making assessment, Ld. CIT(A) erred in not deciding this issue. 4. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing copies of the statements recorded under the Act of the persons on the basis of which assessment order was passed. 5. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing copies of the documents referred in the notice u/s 148A(b), 148(d) as well as show cause notice dated 19.02.2024 on the basis of which assessment order was passed. 6. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without inspection of the assessment file and the file in which notice u/s 148A(b) was processed. 7. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing copy of the sanction obtained before issue of notice u/s 148. 8. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without disposing off the objection of the assessee that notice u/s 148 dated 13.04.2023 has been issued by the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) and not by National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC). 9. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to addition of Rs.24,26,098/- of the Income Tax Act, 1961 without considering the submissions made by the assessee on merits and without stating anything Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 3 in the assessment order as to why submissions are not accepted. 10. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of interest u/s 234A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 11. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of interest u/s 234B of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 12. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of interest u/s 234D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 13. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to not giving Credit of TDS of Rs.16,59,722/- and TCS of Rs.1,32,621/- which is duly reflected in the Form 26AS and for which no show cause notice is given. 14. That the AO’s order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of Tax on normal income at the rate of 40% instead of 25% in Computation of Income. 15. That the Appellant craves leave to add, substitute or delete any grounds of appeal on before the date of hearing and all the above grounds of appeal are without prejudice to each other.” 2. Ld. Counsel for the assessee, at the outset, stated that the Ld. CIT(A) while disposing of the appeal did not adjudicate the technical grounds raised by the assessee. Ld. Counsel for the assessee referring to para 5.3 of the order of the Ld. CIT(A) stated that the Ld. CIT(A) set aside the assessment order passed by the AO u/s 147 r.w.s. 144B of the Act for making the denovo assessment without Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 4 deciding the technical grounds. Therefore, Ld. Counsel requested that the appeal may be restored to the file of the of the Ld. CIT(A) for deciding all the grounds including the technical ground raised by the assessee. 3. Heard rival contentions, perused the orders of the authorities below. We observe that the assessee raised various technical grounds before the Ld. CIT(A) and the Ld. CIT(A) without adjudicating the technical grounds set aside the assessment for making denovo assessment as is evident from the Ld. CIT(Appeals) order which is as under: “3. Being aggrieved by the assessment order u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B dated 17.03.2024, the appellant has presented this appeal, wherein it has taken the following grounds, - 1. “On the facts and circumstances of the case, Notice u/s 148 issued by the Ld. AO is bud both in the eye of law as notice is issued after the expiry of limitation period. 2. On the facts and circumstances of the case, Notice u/s 148 issued by the Ld. AO is bad both in the eye of law as notice is issued u/s 148 instead of 153C. 3. On the facts and circumstances of the case, the order passed by the Ld. AO u/s 147 r.w.s 144 read with section 144B of the Act is illegal and bad in law as the same has been passed without giving opportunity of cross examination of the persons whose statement used against the assessee while making assessment. 4. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing copies of the statements recorded Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 5 under the Act of the persons on the basis of which assessment order was passed. 5. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing copies of the documents referred in the notice u/s 148A(b), 148(d) as well as show cause notice dated 19.02.2024 on the basis of which assessment order was passed. 6. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing inspection of the assessment file and the file in which notice u/s 148A(b) was processed. 7. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without providing copy of the sanction obtained before issue of notice u/s 148. 8. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to passing assessment order without disposing off the objection of the assessee that notice u/s 148 dated 13.04.2023 has been issued by the jurisdictional assessing officer (JAO) and not by National Faceless Assessment Centre (NFAC). 9. That the AU's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to addition of Rs.24,26,098 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 without considering the submissions made by the assessee on merits and without stating anything in the assessment order as to why submissions are not accepted. 10. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of interest u/s 234A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 11. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of interest u/s 234B of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 12. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of interest u/s 234D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. 13. That the AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to not giving Credit of TDS of Rs.16,59,722/- and TCS of Rs.1,32,621/- which is duly Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 6 reflected in the Form 26AS and for which no show cause notice is given. 14. That the /AO's order is contrary to the law and the facts of the case in so far it relates to calculation of Tax on normal income at the rate of 40% instead of 25% in Computation of Income. 15. That the Appellant craves leaves to add, substitute or delete any grounds of appeal on before the date of hearing and all the above grounds of appeal are without prejudice to each other.” 4. During the appeal proceedings, the appellant has filed written submissions before the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC). The appeal is adjudicated upon in respect of each ground of appeal, as under, after taking into consideration the assessment order and written submissions filed by the appellant. 5. Appellate Decision 5.1 The appellate order was served on 17.03.2024 to assessee and the appeal was filed by the assessee on 16.04.2024. Thus, the appeal has been filed within the stipulated period of thirty days from the date of service of the notice of demand. 5.2 The assessment was completed on 17.03.2024and order was passed u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the I. T. Act. The assessee had not responded to the notices issued during the assessment proceedings. Now the assessee has filed various details in support of his claim taken during the present appellate proceedings. As per the newly inserted proviso to section 251(1)(a) of the Act, Commissioner (Appeals) in case of order of assessment made u/s. 144 of the Act, may set aside such assessment and refer the case back to the AO for making a fresh assessment in accordance with law. This proviso has been inserted in the Act w.e.f. 1.10.2024. The said proviso to section 251(1)(a) of the Act is reproduced as under: 251. (1) In disposing of an appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals)] shall have the following powers— (a) in an appeal against an order of assessment, he may confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment; Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 7 Provided that where such appeal is against an order of assessment made under section 144, he may set aside the assessment and refer the case back to the Assessing Officer for making a fresh assessment. 5.3 In view of the above facts as discussed above and changes in the Act, as enumerated above, it is felt that the consideration of the recent submissions filed by the appellant, is justified for the correct appreciation of the issue under deliberation. Therefore, the Order passed by the AO u/s. 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the Act dated 17.03.2024is hereby set aside for making fresh assessment, de-novo, after taking into account the above submissions filed by the appellant. Needless to say that the AO should, while conducting the set aside proceedings, shall give proper opportunities of representation of its case to the appellant and take into account any further submissions which it has to file during the course of the said proceedings. The appellant should duly comply with the correspondences issued by the AO. 5.4 The appeal filed by the appellant is thus disposed-off and assessment is set aside to the file of the A.O.” 4. We observe that the Ld. CIT(A) has not adjudicated the technical grounds and proceeded to restore the assessment to the Assessing Officer for the denovo assessment without deciding the technical ground which is not proper. Thus, we set aside the order of the Ld. CIT(A) and restore the appeal to the file of the Ld. CIT(A) to pass fresh order deciding all the grounds including the technical grounds raised by the assessee, after providing adequate opportunity to the assessee. Printed from counselvise.com ITA No. 2381/DEL/2025 VAN BROS CONSTRUCTION PVT. LTD. 8 5. In the result, appeal of the Assessee is allowed for statistical purpose. Order pronounced in the open court on 12.11.2025 Sd/- Sd/- (M BALAGANESH) (C.N. PRASAD) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER Dated: 12.11.2025 *Kavita Arora, Sr. P.S. Copy forwarded to: 1. Appellant 2. Respondent 3. CIT 4. CIT(Appeals) 5. DR: ITAT ASSISTANT REGISTRAR ITAT, NEW DELHI Printed from counselvise.com "