Dharmendry Bhatta Vs ITO (ITAT Rajkot)
Penalty u/s 272A(1)(d) Deleted: Notices Sent to Wrong Email ID Constitute Sufficient Cause
The Rajkot Bench of the ITAT allowed the assessee’s appeal for AY 2017-18 and deleted the penalty of ₹50,000 levied under section 272A(1)(d) for alleged non-compliance with notices issued under section 142(1).
The Tribunal noted that although the assessee had duly registered her own email ID with the Income Tax Department, the Assessing Officer issued statutory notices to the email ID of the assessee’s husband. Due to the husband’s illness, the emails were not accessed, resulting in non-compliance. The Tribunal held that when the statute and system mandate service of notices on the registered email ID of the assessee, issuing notices to a third party’s email is procedurally invalid.
Relying on the settled principle that where the law prescribes a particular manner for doing an act, it must be done in that manner alone, the ITAT held that the assessee had demonstrated reasonable and sufficient cause for non-compliance. Consequently, the levy of penalty was held to be unjustified.
Accordingly, the penalty imposed by the Assessing Officer and confirmed by the CIT(A) was deleted in full, and the appeal of the assessee was allowed.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT RAJKOT
