2013 (1) TMI 481 - HC - Income Tax

Application u/s 254 (2) - ITAT dismissed it holding it amounting to review and not recalling the order - appeal decided ex parte - Held that - Approach of the Tribunal cannot be faulted as from the rojkam presented it was noticed that atleast on three or four occasions either the appellant prayed for time, or no one remained present before the Tribunal. If therefore, the Tribunal proceeded to hear the appeal on merits, after not accepting further request of the appellant for adjournment, Tribunal committed no serious error. Additions disbelieving the genuineness of the cash credit - Held that - The Tribunal examining the evidence on record came to the conclusion that to the extent CIT A confirmed the additions, no interference was called for & for rest of the parties, the AO had given number of opportunities to the assessee to produce them but assessee had not furnished even the names and addresses of such creditors, thus the Tribunal was unable to give further relief to the assessee. Tribunal having committed no error to the extent that the assessee could not establish genuineness of the credits by producing necessary documentary evidence; even at the appellate stage. Assessee s submission that if the Tribunal had adjourned the matter the assessee would have moved an application for production of additional evidence to establish the genuineness of credits is a too far-fetched an argument to uphold the contention that reasonable opportunity was not granted to the appellant.

Summary

Issues:
1. Dismissal of application under Section 254(2) of the Act by the Income Tax Appellate Authority.
2. Decision of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal to hear the appeal ex parte.
3. Confirmation of additions made by the Assessing Officer based on a third party statement.

Issue 1:
The appellant challenged the judgment of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench, regarding the dismissal of the application under Section 254(2) of the Act. The Tribunal decided the appeal ex parte due to the appellant's alleged lack of interest in pursuing the case. The appellant contended that they had applied for adjournment on several occasions and should have been given an opportunity to present their case. The High Court examined the record and found that the Tribunal had granted adjournments to the appellant on multiple instances. The Court held that the Tribunal's decision to proceed with the appeal after the appellant failed to appear did not constitute a serious error as per the rules. The Tribunal is obligated to decide on the merits even in the absence of the appellant, rather than dismissing the appeal for default.

Issue 2:
Regarding the confirmation of additions made by the Assessing Officer based on the genuineness of cash credits, the appellant had challenged the order before the Tribunal. The Assessing Officer disbelieved the genuineness of certain cash credits and the appellant failed to produce necessary evidence to substantiate their claims. The CIT [A] had sought a remand report from the Assessing Officer to verify the claims made by the appellant. While some relief was granted based on verifiable claims, the rest of the additions were confirmed. The Tribunal upheld the decision, noting that the appellant did not provide the names and addresses of the creditors despite multiple opportunities. The Tribunal found that the appellant had initially accepted certain credits as bogus and only disclosed a part of them as undisclosed income. The burden was on the appellant to prove the genuineness of the remaining credits, which they failed to do at any stage of the proceedings.

Conclusion:
The High Court upheld the decisions of the Tribunal on both issues. The Tribunal's actions in hearing the appeal ex parte and confirming the additions made by the Assessing Officer were found to be in accordance with the law. The appellant's failure to provide necessary evidence and substantiate their claims led to the dismissal of the appeal. The Court found no error in the Tribunal's approach and concluded that no question of law arose in the case. Consequently, the Tax Appeal was disposed of in favor of the respondent authorities.