Milind Amrut Patil Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
Claim of Acting as Mere “Conduit” through M-Pesa Rejected – ₹32.22 Lakh Cash Deposit Treated as Unexplained & Appeal Dismissed
Assessee’s appeal before ITAT challenged the NFAC order dated 04-07-2025 confirming addition of ₹32,22,775/- u/s 69A as unexplained cash deposit. When the case was called, no one appeared for the Assessee, & the adjournment request received through email contained no valid reason. Tribunal held that adjournment is not a matter of right & found the request casual & dilatory, hence rejected it.
On merits, Tribunal noted that both AO & CIT(A) had rightly held the deposits as unexplained since the Assessee failed to produce any documentary evidence to support his claim that he acted merely as a “conduit” for money transfer through M-Pesa. No fresh material was placed before Tribunal to rebut these findings.
Result: Addition of ₹32.22 lakh confirmed – Appeal dismissed.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT MUMBAI
The present appeal has been filed by the assessee challenging the impugned order dt. 04.07.2025 passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘the Act’), by the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) / CIT(A) for the assessment year 2017-18.
2. None appeared on behalf of the assessee either physically or virtually when the case was called repeatedly, however an application for seeking adjournment has been received through e-mail. After going through the contents of the application I find that no details have been mentioned in the same and only a general statement for filing paper book has been mentioned. No reasons have been mentioned by the assessee as to why the documents if any were not filed along with the appeal at the time of instituting the appeal before the Tribunal. I also noticed that the present appeal was filed on 29.08.2025 and approximately two months have already been passed but no efforts have been made by the assessee to place on record any documents. Since adjournment is not the right of the litigant therefore in my view the said application filed in a just a casual and cavalier manner to delay the judicial proceedings, therefore the same stands dismissed.
