2021 (7) TMI 79 - AT - Income Tax

Ex-parte order - Denial of natural justice - HELD THAT - The appeal of the assessee was fixed for hearing by the CIT(Appeals) only on one occasion and without giving any further opportunity of being heard to the assessee, the appeal of the assessee was dismissed by him ex-parte vide his impugned order - no proper and sufficient opportunity of being heard was given by the CIT(Appeals) to the assessee before dismissing the appeal of the assessee vide his impugned order passed ex-parte and there is a clear violation of principles of natural justice. Even the ld. D.R. has not been able to dispute this position, which is clearly evident from the impugned order of the ld. CIT(Appeals). therefore, consider it fair and proper and in the interest of justice to set aside the impugned order passed by the ld. CIT(Appeals) ex-parte and remit the matter back to him for disposing of the appeal of the assessee afresh on merit in accordance with law - Aappeal of the assessee is treated as allowed for statistical purposes.

Summary

Issues:
Appeal against dismissal of exemption claim on long-term capital gain from shares.

Analysis:
The appeal was filed against the order of the ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-10, Kolkata, who had dismissed the assessee's appeal regarding the exemption claim on long-term capital gain from shares. The Assessing Officer had considered the claim to be bogus and made an addition to the total income of the assessee. The assessee, an individual, had appealed against this decision, but due to non-compliance during the appellate proceedings, the appeal was dismissed ex-parte by the ld. CIT(Appeals). The Tribunal noted that the assessee was not present during the hearing, and the appeal was disposed of after hearing the arguments of the ld. D.R. The ld. CIT(Appeals) had fixed the appeal for hearing only once and dismissed it ex-parte without giving further opportunities for the assessee to be heard, leading to a violation of principles of natural justice.

The Tribunal found that the assessee was not given proper and sufficient opportunity to be heard before the appeal was dismissed ex-parte by the ld. CIT(Appeals). It was observed that the ld. D.R. did not dispute this position. Therefore, in the interest of justice, the Tribunal set aside the order of the ld. CIT(Appeals) and remitted the matter back to him for a fresh disposal of the appeal on merit. The ld. CIT(Appeals) was directed to pass a well-reasoned order after giving proper and sufficient opportunity of being heard to the assessee. The assessee was instructed to comply with the directions and cooperate to facilitate the expeditious disposal of the appeal.

Consequently, the appeal of the assessee was treated as allowed for statistical purposes. The order was pronounced in the open court on June 17, 2021.