Rathi Gajendran Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
The appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Chennai, filed by the assessee Rathi Gajendran, challenged the order of the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC)/CIT(A) for the Assessment Year (AY) 2015-16.
The case originated from the assessee’s purchase of an immovable property valued at ₹54,06,160/-, for which no return of income was filed. The Assessing Officer (AO) subsequently issued a show cause notice under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, followed by a notice under Section 148 to file a return, as no response was received from the assessee. In the assessment order, the AO included ₹5,67,280/- as per the return filed under Section 148 and additionally treated the entire property value of ₹54,06,160/- as unexplained investment under Section 69 read with Section 115BBE of the Act.
The assessee appealed to the CIT(A), who dismissed the appeal on the grounds that the assessee failed to explain the source of the property investment.
Before the ITAT, the assessee raised a legal issue for the first time, contending that the reopening of the assessment for AY 2015-16 was illegal, void, without jurisdiction, and barred by limitation. The assessee also claimed they were not provided sufficient opportunities to substantiate the genuineness of the transaction before the lower authorities.
