2018 (11) TMI 1132 - HC - Income Tax

Exparte appeal orders - Tribunal remanded the proceedings for consideration of CIT (Appeals) on the ground that the appeal order was exparte - Held that - Appellant is justified in making a grievance that the Tribunal did not put some check or restriction on the assessee so that sense of seriousness is brought about in the proceedings. Even if the Tribunal was inclined to grant opportunity to participate in the proceedings, at least imposition of fair amount of cost could have been considered. This would bring in a level of seriousness required on the part of the assessee while facing assessment proceedings. However, only for such purpose, we are not inclined to entertain this appeal, since otherwise we do not find any question of law arising. In future assure the Tribunal would bear in mind these observations.

Summary

The Gujarat High Court dismissed the Revenue's appeal against the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal's judgment. The Tribunal remanded the proceedings to the CIT (Appeals) due to an exparte appeal order. The High Court noted that the Tribunal should have imposed a fair amount of cost on the assessee to ensure seriousness in assessment proceedings. The appeal was not entertained as no question of law arose, but the Tribunal was advised to consider such observations in the future.