Anil Kumar Chauhan Vs DCIT (ITAT Delhi)
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Delhi has remitted a case involving a significant addition of over Rs. 7.17 crore back to the Assessing Officer (AO) for fresh adjudication. The appeal, filed by Anil Kumar Chauhan against the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax (DCIT), challenged an order from the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) for the assessment year 2019-20.
The central issue stemmed from an ex-parte addition made by the AO under Section 68 and Section 40a(ia) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, after the assessee failed to respond to notices. During the appeal before the CIT(A), the assessee sought to submit new evidence under Rule 46A. However, this request was rejected by the CIT(A), who agreed with the AO’s contention that there was no reasonable cause for the late submission. The CIT(A) then adjudicated the matter on its merits without considering the new evidence, partially allowing the appeal.
The ITAT, after reviewing the case, found the CIT(A)’s rejection of the additional evidence to be based on “conjectures and surmises” and not on concrete facts. The tribunal emphasized that denying a litigant an adequate opportunity to be heard is a violation of natural justice. The ITAT pointed out that both the AO and the CIT(A) had made “one-sided additions” without a comprehensive analysis of the facts.
