Meenaba Divyavirsinhji Alias Vs DCIT (ITAT Ahmedabad)
Meritorious Appeal Should Not Be Rejected on Limitation Alone — ITAT Ahmedabad Restores Matter with Costs
The Ahmedabad Bench of the ITAT set aside the order of the CIT(A)/NFAC for AY 2019-20, holding that a meritorious appeal involving substantial additions cannot be dismissed solely on the ground of delay without adjudicating the issues on merits.
Key findings of the Tribunal:
- CIT(A) erred in dismissing appeal in limine: The CIT(A) rejected the assessee’s appeal for 87-day delay without examining the grounds on merits. The Tribunal held that such an approach is unsustainable, particularly when large additions of ₹2.76 crore were involved.
- Liberal approach to limitation in deserving cases: Relying on Gujarat High Court in Vareli Textile Industries, the ITAT reiterated that technicalities of limitation should not defeat substantive justice.
- Assessee’s negligence noted, but justice prevails: While the assessee failed to comply before the AO and blamed the consultant, the Tribunal observed that mere counsel fault is not always sufficient cause. To balance equities, the Tribunal imposed costs of ₹10,000 payable to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
- Issues require factual verification: The basic issue—whether investments of ₹1.90 crore were fresh investments or renewals of old investments—was not examined. This had a direct bearing on the addition under section 69 and invocation of section 115BBE.
- Remand with safeguards: The matter was restored to the file of the CIT(A) with directions to decide the appeal on merits, allow filing of additional evidence, and obtain a remand report from the AO if necessary, subject to payment of costs.
Accordingly, the assessee’s appeal was allowed for statistical purposes, and the case was remanded for fresh adjudication in the interest of justice
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT AHMEDABAD
Meenaba Divyavirsinhji Alias Vs DCIT (ITAT Ahmedabad)
This appeal is filed by the assessee against the order of NFAC [in short “CIT(A)”] dated 22.08.2025 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2019-20 in the proceeding u/s 147 read with Section 144 of the Act.
