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Judgment
PER S. RIFAUR RAHMAN, AM:
The assessee has filed appeal against the order of the Learned Addl./JCIT (A)-1, Ahmedabad [“Ld. CIT(A)”, for short] dated 16.02.2026 for the Assessment Year 2021-22.
None appeared on behalf of the assessee. We are proceeding to decide the appeal with the assistance of ld. DR of the Revenue.
Considered the submissions of the ld. DR of the Revenue and perused the material available on record. We observed that the ld. CIT (A) dismissed the appeal in limine only on the ground of delay in filing without duly appreciating that the assessee had shown reasonable and sufficient cause for the delay. We also observe that the ld. CIT (A) had not adjudicated the issues on its merits. We are of the opinion that ld. CIT (A) ought to have dealt with the grounds of appeal substantively even if the delay was not condoned or at least provided a detailed finding on the sufficiency of the cause of delay. In the interest of justice, we condone the delay in filing the appeal before the ld. CIT (A). In our considered view, assessee should be given one more opportunity of being heard on merit. Therefore, we direct ld. CIT (A) to give an opportunity of being heard to the assessee and decide the issues on merit as per law. We also direct assessee to make proper submissions and appear before the ld. CIT (A) on the date of hearing and cooperate with the tax authorities. Accordingly, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.