Bela Mehra vs Income Tax Officer

PER SANJAY AWASTHI, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER:

This appeal arises from order u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereafter as “the Act”), passed by Ld. Addl./JCIT(Appeals)-7, Mumbai. On the last date of hearing an adjournment application was filed by the appellant, but it was decided to reject the same and proceed ahead with the adjudication with the help of Ld. DR.

It is seen that the Ld. AO passed an ex parte order dated 09.12.2019 in the case and thereafter the aggrieved assessee approached the Ld. Addl./JCIT(A) where also she could not attend to any of the opportunity notices issued, and thereafter an ex parte order has been passed even at first appellate stage.

The aggrieved assessee has approached the ITAT with grounds which challenge the action of the first appellate authority by stating that the assessee was a super senior citizen who was suffering from various ailments. Accordingly, the assessee could not promptly attend to the notices issued thereon.

The Ld. DR took us through the orders of authorities below and also helped us to peruse medical records annexed to an appeal set filed by the assessee earlier. The Ld. DR relied on the orders of the authorities below thereafter.

We have carefully considered the submissions of Ld. DR and have gone through the records before us. We find that the assessee has filed considerable documents in support of her claim of being physically indisposed. Accordingly, in the interest of substantive justice, we deem it fit to set aside the impugned order and remand this matter back to the file of Ld. AO for fresh assessment. We would expect the assessee to make compliance before the Ld. AO so that her correct income can be assessed.

In the result, appeal is allowed for statistical purpose.