Manisha Devnani Vs INT Tax Ward 2(1)(1) (ITAT Mumbai)
Direct ITAT Appeal Barred Without DRP Objections: ITAT Mumbai Dismisses Appeal as Non-Maintainable under Section 144C
The Mumbai Bench of the ITAT dismissed the assessee’s appeal for AY 2018-19 as non-maintainable, holding that a direct appeal to the Tribunal is not permissible where the assessee fails to file objections before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) against a draft assessment order issued under section 144C(1).
In the present case, the assessee, an eligible assessee under section 144C(15)(b), was served with a draft assessment order dated 11.03.2024. Instead of filing objections before the DRP within the statutory 30-day period as mandated by section 144C(2), the assessee merely filed submissions before the Assessing Officer. As no objections were filed before the DRP, the Assessing Officer validly passed the final assessment order under section 144C(3).
The Tribunal held that, under section 253, an appeal lies directly to the ITAT only against a final assessment order passed pursuant to DRP directions under section 144C(5). Where no objections are filed before the DRP and the final order is passed under section 144C(3), the statutory remedy is an appeal before the CIT(A) and not before the Tribunal. Filing submissions only before the AO was held to be non est in law and equivalent to not filing objections at all.
Since the impugned order was not a DRP-directed order, the ITAT held that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the appeal, and this defect went to the root of maintainability and could not be cured. Accordingly, without examining the merits or other procedural defects (including delay), the appeal was dismissed in limine as non-maintainable, with liberty to the assessee to pursue the appropriate statutory remedy before the CIT(A).
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT MUMBAI
