ITAT Pune Restores Appeal Dismissed Over 6-Day Delay, Directs CIT(A) to Decide Matter on Merits

The Pune Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has held that an appeal should not be rejected merely on account of a minor delay in filing and directed the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) to adjudicate the matter on merits after condoning a delay of six days.

A Bench comprising Vice President R.K. Panda and Judicial Member Vinay Bhamore set aside the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), which had dismissed the assessee’s appeal in limine without examining the substantive grounds raised against the reassessment proceedings.

The assessee, an individual taxpayer and a U.S. citizen, had originally filed his return declaring income of Rs 19.98 lakh for AY 2014-15. Subsequently, the case was reopened under Section 147 based on information that the assessee had allegedly failed to disclose an investment of Rs 52.41 lakh in an immovable property. Since no response was filed to the notices issued during reassessment proceedings, the Assessing Officer completed the assessment under Sections 147, 144 and 144B, making an addition of Rs 52.41 lakh under Section 69 towards unexplained investment.

Being aggrieved by the reassessment order, the assessee filed an appeal before the CIT(A). However, the appeal was delayed by six days and was dismissed without condoning the delay or adjudicating the issues on their merits.

Before the Tribunal, the assessee contended that he was residing outside India and was unaware of the notices and orders passed by the tax authorities. It was further submitted that the appellate authority ought to have condoned the marginal delay and decided the appeal on merits. The Tribunal noted that the First Appellate Authority had dismissed the appeal solely on account of a six-day delay without examining any of the substantive grounds raised by the assessee.

Considering the overall facts and circumstances, the Bench held that the interests of justice would be served by restoring the matter to the file of the CIT(A). It was observed that the assessee should be given an opportunity to contest the reassessment proceedings and raise all legal and factual grounds, including any additional grounds relating to the validity or limitation of the notice issued under Section 148. The Tribunal directed the CIT(A) to condone the delay and decide each ground of appeal afresh in accordance with law after providing an adequate opportunity of hearing to the assessee.

Thus, the order of the CIT(A) was set aside, and the matter was remanded for fresh adjudication. Since the appeal was restored to the appellate authority, all other grounds were left open for consideration. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.

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