Ganga Suresh Rathod Vs ITO (ITAT Panaji)
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Panaji set aside the National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC) order in the case of Ganga Suresh Rathod vs. ITO. The appellant had filed her income tax return for the assessment year 2015-16, reporting a total income of ₹8,97,453. However, based on information from the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), her case was reopened under Section 148, suspecting tax evasion. The Assessing Officer (AO) found that she had earned ₹8,29,400 as long-term capital gains (LTCG) from speculative transactions in the stock ‘OJASASSET.’ Since she failed to justify the legitimacy of these gains, the AO deemed them bogus and added the amount to her taxable income. The reassessment was conducted under Section 147 read with Section 144B, and her appeal to the NFAC challenging the reopening and tax addition was dismissed.
Before ITAT, the appellant argued that the NFAC had denied her request for a video conference hearing, which prevented her from adequately presenting her case. The tribunal, comprising Judicial Member Pavan Kumar Gadale and Accountant Member G.D. Padmahshali, emphasized that the right to be heard is a fundamental principle of natural justice. They found that NFAC had rejected the video conferencing request without valid justification, making the proceedings irregular. Consequently, the ITAT remanded the case back to the NFAC, directing that a fresh hearing be conducted through video conferencing and a new order be passed as per Section 250(6) of the Income Tax Act. The appeal was allowed for statistical purposes, reinforcing the importance of fair hearings in tax litigation.
