Allamlprabhu Credit Co-operative Society Vs ITO (ITAT Bangalore)
Summary: The assessee, a credit co-operative society, challenged the order passed by the CIT(A) under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for Assessment Year 2015-16. The appeal was initially delayed by 25 days. The Tribunal condoned the delay after considering the assessee’s explanation that the delay resulted from change of professional assistance, renewal of the authorised signatory’s digital signature certificate and technical difficulty in electronically filing Form No. 36. The Tribunal admitted the appeal for adjudication on merits.
The assessee also raised an additional legal ground challenging the validity of the notice issued under section 148. The Tribunal admitted the additional ground after finding that it was a legal issue arising from facts already available on record and did not require fresh investigation. In doing so, it followed the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in National Thermal Power Co. Ltd. v. CIT, reported in 229 ITR 383 (SC), concerning admission of a legal ground at the appellate stage.
On the reassessment issue, the initial proceedings arose from information that the assessee had deposited Rs. 1,33,33,000/- in cash in three bank accounts. A notice under section 148A(b) was issued on 15.03.2022. The assessee explained that the deposits represented regular business receipts, including loan recoveries from members, pigmy collections, savings account receipts and other daily business transactions. It also furnished date-wise cash deposit details and cash book extracts.
