Ramavtar Akar Vs ITO (ITAT Jaipur)
Issue of Seven Notices Is Not Proof of Their Service: ITAT Restores ₹66.16 Lakh Demonetisation Appeal for Decision on Merits
The Jaipur Bench of the ITAT has held that merely mentioning the issue of several hearing notices does not establish that those notices were actually served upon the assessee. The appellate authority must record its satisfaction regarding effective service of notice before drawing an adverse inference on account of non-appearance.
Finding that the NFAC had referred to seven notices but had not identified which of them had been served, the Tribunal set aside the ex parte appellate order and restored the matter to the CIT(A) for fresh adjudication on merits after granting a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
₹1.27 Crore Cash Deposited During Demonetisation
The assessee was engaged in the business of trading in gold & silver ornaments under the name M/s Shree Nath Jewels. For AY 2017-18, he declared total income of ₹10,63,810 after claiming Chapter VI-A deductions of ₹1,26,033.
The return was selected for scrutiny and notice u/s 143(2) was issued on 11-08-2018. The assessee appeared during the assessment proceedings and furnished the details & information called for by the AO.
During scrutiny, the AO noticed that the assessee had deposited cash aggregating to ₹1,27,49,000 in different bank accounts. Out of this amount, ₹1,26,99,000 represented Specified Bank Notes (“SBNs”) deposited during the demonetisation period.
