Dinesh Gulshanlal Gupta Vs ITO (ITAT Ahmedabad)
No Statement of Facts? No Problem! – ITAT Says ‘Don’t Kill the Appeal for a Missing Paragraph- Appeal cannot be dismissed merely for not filing Statement of Facts – Matter remanded for fresh adjudication- ITAT Ahmedabad
Assessee filed returns for AY 2016-17 & 2019-20 declaring ~₹3 lakh income. Investigation Wing seized ledger of Darshanam Group showing assessee allegedly gave cash loans of ₹1.50 crore. AO treated ₹75 lakh (AY 2016-17) & ₹25 lakh (AY 2019-20) as unexplained cash advances u/s 69A r.w.s. 115BBE. Assessee denied the transactions but AO made additions.
Appeal filed before CIT(A), but Statement of Facts (SOF) was not attached to Form 35.
CIT(A)’s Action
- Issued deficiency notice, but assessee didn’t cure within time.
- CIT(A) dismissed the appeal as “non-maintainable” solely for not filing SOF.
- Thus, additions were confirmed without examining merits.
Before ITAT
- Assessee argued: non-filing of SOF is a procedural defect, not a ground for dismissal.
- DR fairly conceded that appeal should not have been dismissed & may be remanded.
ITAT’s Findings
- Appeal was filed in time, in prescribed form, with grounds of appeal.
- SOF is procedural, not mandatory for maintainability.
- Section 250(6) mandates CIT(A) to pass a reasoned order on merits.
- CIT(A) has wide powers – cannot dismiss appeal on technicalities.
- Once appeal is validly instituted, CIT(A) must adjudicate on merits.
- CIT(A)’s dismissal set aside.
- Matter remanded back to CIT(A) to decide afresh on merits after giving opportunity of hearing.
- ITAT made it clear no view on merits of addition is expressed.
Procedural lapse (like non-filing of Statement of Facts) cannot defeat substantive right of appeal. CIT(A) is bound to decide on merits; dismissal at threshold violates Section 250(6).
