First Appellate Authority is duty-bound to adjudicate on merits even if no submission is made: ITAT

The appeal before the Tribunal was time barred by 1385 days. The Ld. AR drew our attention to the application filed by the assessee praying for condonation of delay in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. this appeal has been filed against the order of the Ld.CIT(A), which was decided ex-parte.

In the case of Bhivchandra Shankar More Vs. Balu Gangaram More & Ors. It was held with regard to condonation of delay,”it is a fairly well-settled law that “sufficient cause” should be given liberal construction so as to advance sustainable justice when there is no inaction, no negligence nor want of bonafide could be imputable to the appellant. in view of the settled judicial precedent and in the interest of substantial justice, we deem it appropriate to condone the delay of 1385 days and we admit the appeal.”

Also it was held that it is the trite law that the First Appellate Authority is duty-bound to adjudicate the issues before him on merits irrespective of the fact whether the assessee has made any submission before him or not.

Therefore, even if the assessee was unrepresented, the Ld.CIT(A) should have adjudicated the issues before him based on the case record before him and shouldn’t have dismissed the assessee’s appeal without examining the case on merits. Therefore, substantial justice requires that the issues should be re-examined by the Ld.CIT(A). Accordingly, appeal is restored to the office of the Ld. First Appellate Authority with the direction to adjudicate the appeal on merits of the case after giving a proper opportunity to the assessee. The assessee was directed to duly comply with the notices issued by the Ld. First Appellate Authority in this regard, failing which, the Ld. First Appellate Authority shall be at liberty to adjudicate the appeal before him ex-parte. Therefore, the appeal of the assessee was allowed for statistical purposes.

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