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Judgment
PER KRINWANT SAHAY A.M.
Appeal in this case has been filed by the assessee against the order dated 27.06.2024 passed by the NFAC, Delhi for the A.Y. 2014-15. Grounds of appeal are as under :-
1.The Ld. Commissioner Appeals erred in upholding the exparte order passed by the assessing officer under section 147 read with section 144 of the Act
2.The Ld. commissioner erred in not considering the ground raised by the appellant regarding assessment of income from business at 10 percent of receipts recorded in Form 26AS when the appellant had no income from operations.
3.The Id commissioner of appeals erred in not considering the appellant's claim of expenses incurred for maintaining office, fighting legal cases and other related expenses incurred by the appellant to the tune of Rs 63506264 as they have to be incurred irrespective of the fact whether there is income from operations or not.
4.The Ld commissioner of appeals erred in dismissing the appellant's contention regarding charge of interest u/s 234A
5.The Ld commissioner of appeals erred in dismissing the appellant's contention regarding charge of interest u/s 2348
6.The Ld. Commissioner has erred in confirming the initiation of penalty proceedings u/s 271(1)(b) of the Act
7.The Ld. Commissioner has erred in confirming the initiation of penalty proceedings u/s 271(1)(c) of the Act
8.The above grounds are independent and without prejudice to each other
The assessee has filed an application for condonation of delay which is reproduced as under :-
To, The Registrar, Income tax Appellate Tribunal Delhi
16.12.2025.
Sir,
Subject: Continental Construction Ltd, 2B, Continental House, Nehru Place, New Delhi PAN-AAACC2309R, Assessment year-2014-15 Order u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act dated 27.6.2024 by DIN & Order No ITBA/NFAC/S/250/2024- 25/1066148204(1)
This is an application for condonation of delay in filing appeal against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Apeals) of National Faceless Appeal centre (NFAC), Delhi. The impugned order was uploaded on the portal on 27.6.2024 and the appellant is supposed to file its appeal on or before 26th August 2024. The said appeal is being filed now.
The appellant is a very old Company established in 1962 in New Delhi with infrastructure development as its objective and did very commendable projects in India and abroad. Prestigious projects like Karkh, Nasiria, Diwania and West Bank sewerage and water supply projects in Iraq, Wadhigan Dam in Libia, Gawhati Airport, Bomabay Dry Dock, Visakhapatnam Shipyard, Tawa Dam Maneri- Bali Dam, Natpa-Jakhri joint Venture in India were carried on by the Company to mention a few.
Such prestigious Company got into legal problems and internal wrangles and could not meet dates of compliances. It also fell into financial difficulties.
The Company's office was sealed by the MCD for non-payment of taxes. Having no place to operate from, the staff are sitting in the offices of related people and carrying on activities like fighting legal case, attending NCLT, meeting Income Tax related dates etc. The Directors of the Company sit in different places and there is no ordination among them.
In the process, the order passed by the NFAC escaped the attention of the staff. Once, it was spotted on the Income tax portal, the appellant hastened to file the appeal. It is requested that keeping in view the peculiar and difficult circumstances of the appellant, the delay in filing the appeal may kindly be condoned and the appeal may be considered.
Thanking You,
Yours faithfully,
For Continental Construction Ltd
K.K. Pandey Authorised Signatory.
Having considered the issues brought in the application for condonation of delay. We are inclined to condone the delay. Ld. DR did not object on this issue.
At the very outset the Ld. Counsel for the assessee brought it to the notice of the Bench that the order passed by the AO in this case is u/s.144 i.e. exparte r.w.s. 147 of the Act and the ld. CIT(A) has confirmed the exparte order passed by the ld. AO. Accordingly, the Ld. Counsel for the assessee prayed before the Bench that in order to have natural justice to the assessee the matter may be remanded back to the file of the AO.
Per contra the Ld. DR relied and supported the orders of the authorities below.
We have considered the findings given by the AO in the assessment order passed exparte u/s.147 r.w.s. 144 of the Act. We have also considered the appellate order passed by the Ld. CIT(A). We find that the order passed by the AO in this case is an exparte order and the Ld. CIT(A) has confirmed all the additions made by the AO in his assessment order passed u/s.144 of the Act. Keeping in view the element of natural justice to the assessee we are inclined to remand this case back to the file of the AO for passing denovo order after giving adequate opportunity of being heard to the assessee as required by law.
The assessee is also directed to comply notices and queries of the AO and file all required documents and submissions in order to help in finalizing the assessment order. Accordingly, the assessee’s appeal is allowed for statistical purpose.