Vijaykumar Odeti Vs ITO (ITAT Hyderabad)
The appeal was filed by the assessee against the order dated 13.11.2024 passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi, for Assessment Year 2015-16. The assessee sought permission to submit additional evidence that could not be produced earlier and requested that the ex-parte order of the CIT(A) be set aside and the matter be remanded for fresh adjudication after considering all relevant documents.
The authorised representative submitted that the assessee was an illiterate farmer engaged solely in agricultural activities. The assessment had been reopened on the basis of information regarding cash deposits of about ₹5.83 crore/₹5.87 crore in the assessee’s Axis Bank account and share trading transactions of ₹1.60 crore on the National Stock Exchange. According to the assessee, no such cash deposits or share trading transactions had been carried out by him. It was contended that one Totapalli Kiran had fraudulently misused the assessee’s KYC documents to open and operate the bank account.
The assessee relied upon FIR No.130/2015 lodged by the bank, the police charge-sheet dated 04.03.2017, bank account statements, and witness statements recorded during the criminal proceedings. It was submitted that the investigation revealed that three accused persons had fraudulently swindled cash from BNA machines and deposited it into 28 bank accounts opened in the names of friends and relatives without their knowledge, including the assessee’s account. The assessee argued that, being an agriculturist with meagre income, he had no source to deposit such a large amount. These documents were produced before the Tribunal as additional evidence. It was also submitted that in the cases of other alleged victims of the same fraud, the CIT(A) had already remanded the matters to the Assessing Officer after considering similar evidence, but the present assessee could not produce the documents before the CIT(A) because the appellate order had been passed ex-parte.
