Abdul Mannan Vs ITO (ITAT Kolkata)
The appeal, filed with a delay of 464 days, was admitted after the ITAT accepted the assessee’s application, finding the reasons for the delay “plausible” and noting no serious objection from the Revenue.
The assessee argued that the CIT(A) dismissed the appeal without granting a sufficient opportunity of being heard. The Tribunal acknowledged that the assessee failed to substantiate his claims or produce relevant evidence before both the Assessing Officer (AO) and the CIT(A), pointing to a history of non-cooperation.
In the “interest of justice,” the ITAT partially allowed the appeal for statistical purposes, granting the assessee a final opportunity to substantiate his claim. The issues were restored to the file of the AO for de novo adjudication with a mandate to provide the assessee adequate hearing opportunity.
However, due to the assessee’s prior non-cooperation and failure to respond to notices during appellate proceedings, the Tribunal imposed a cost of Rs.50,000 on the assessee, payable to the Legal Aid Services, Calcutta High Court, within sixty days. The order explicitly made the remand conditional: if the cost is not paid within the specified period, the CIT(A)’s original dismissal order stands confirmed. The assessee was directed to cooperate positively in the re-adjudication.
