Arvind Kumar Vs ITO (ITAT Agra)
Rectification Rejection Itself Erroneous—CIT(A) Claimed No Pending 154 Application but Still Passed 154 Order; Ex-Parte Order Recalled & Matter Remanded
The Assessee, a farmer operating a potato-belt cold storage facility, appealed against NFAC/JCIT(A)’s order dated 11.04.2025 dismissing his rectification request u/s 154 r.w.s. 250. The earlier appellate order had been passed ex-parte because the Assessee—being technologically unfamiliar—could not access the income-tax portal or respond to online notices.
In the original reassessment u/s 147/143(3) dated 27.12.2017, AO assessed income at ₹48,64,117 as against returned income of ₹1,93,040, mainly on alleged unexplained bank credits. During first appeal, the Assessee could not comply due to complete inability to handle electronic processes, and CIT(A) dismissed the appeal without adjudicating merits.
To correct this, the Assessee filed a rectification petition dated 14.01.2024, seeking recall of the ex-parte order. CIT(A) astonishingly held that no such 154 petition existed on the portal, yet proceeded to dispose of the same petition by passing a 154 order dated 11.04.2025. Before ITAT, the Assessee produced portal evidence proving the rectification application was indeed visible on record.
Tribunal held that CIT(A)’s action was self-contradictory and legally untenable—if the application was “not pending”, CIT(A) could not have passed a 154 order on it. Since the ex-parte dismissal had denied the Assessee reasonable opportunity and the 154 rejection was fundamentally flawed, the Tribunal restored the entire appeal to CIT(A) for de novo adjudication on all issues arising from the reassessment.
Tribunal further directed CIT(A) to:
