Nitesh Kapoor vs Income Tax Officer

Per Raj Kumar Chauhan, Judicial Member:

The appeal o f the assessee is dir ected against the order dated 24.10.20 24of Learned C ommissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi [hereinafter referred to as the “CIT(A)/ NFAC”] passed u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 [hereinafter referred to as “the Act”] wherein, the app eal of the assessee was dismissed.

None appeared on behalf of the assessee nor any adjournment letter was filed.

It e merges at the outset during the course of hearing that the ld . Assessing Officer’s detailed discussion has proceeded ex-parte against the assessee u/s 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s. 144B of the Act thereby making the corresponding disallowance made u/s 69A of the Act, due to the fact that assessee remained unresponsive during the assessment proceedings. The ld. CIT(A) in appeal has observed that since the asse ssee has not filed return of inco me as well as not paid an amount equal to the amount o f ad vance tax which was payable by it, hence , not admitted the appeal and dismissed the same on this count, without deciding the appeal on merits of the case. Even otherwise, the ld. CIT(A) has not issued any notice u/s 250(2)(a) of the Act, which is in violation of principle of natural justice.

In view of the aforesaid factual matrix, we find that the power of first appellate authority are co-terminus to that of the Assessing Officer and it is incumbent upon the ld. CIT( A) to decide the appeal on mer its or remand the case to the Assessing Officer for his afresh adjudication, w hich he has failed to do so. It is therefore deemed appropriate in the larger interest of justice to restore the assessee’s instant appeal back to the ld. C IT(A) for it’s afresh appropriate adjudicatio n, after giving adequate opportunity of being heard to the assessee. The assesse e is also directed to fully cooperate w ith the Ld. CIT( A) during the proceed ings and file all the necessary documents, if any, before the Ld. CIT(A), in accordance with law. Ordered acco rdingly .

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.