Relangi Lakshmi Sarada Vs ITO (ITAT Hyderabad)
Mechanical Dismissal by NFAC Set Aside: ITAT Hyderabad Restores Appeal for Fresh Adjudication
set aside the NFAC order which had dismissed the assessee’s appeal on alleged technical defects and restored the matter to the file of the CIT(A) for de-novo adjudication.
The NFAC had dismissed the appeal on the ground that Form No.35, grounds of appeal, statement of facts and copy of the assessment order were not filed, and that the assessee had not complied with appellate notices. The Tribunal found these findings factually incorrect. It held that once an appeal is registered, filing of Form No.35 is implicit, and the record clearly showed that the assessee had filed an adjournment request duly acknowledged through the official CPC email ID, contradicting the allegation of non-compliance.
The Bench strongly deprecated the casual and mechanical approach adopted by the CIT(A) in dismissing the appeal without considering material on record and without granting an effective opportunity of being heard. It reiterated that dismissal of an appeal on mere technicalities, without adjudicating issues on merits, is unsustainable in law.
Accordingly, the ITAT set aside the impugned order, restored the entire appeal to the CIT(A) for fresh, speaking adjudication after granting reasonable opportunity, and kept all grounds (including jurisdictional challenges to s.148 notice) open. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT HYDERABAD
