Assessee's Appeal under Income Tax Act Not Maintainable; Separate Appeal with Delay Condonation Required

The Tribunal found that the appeal filed by the assessee against the order of ld. CIT(A) under section 154 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for A.Y. 2010-11 was not maintainable in its current form. It was determined that instead of substituting the current appeal, the assessee should file a separate appeal with an application for condonation of delay, if necessary. As a result, the appeal was disposed of, and the order was pronounced on April 4, 2018.

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Issues:
Appeal against order of ld. CIT(A) under section 154 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for A.Y. 2010-11.

Analysis:
The appellant filed the appeal before the Tribunal against the order of ld. CIT(A) dated 17.10.2014 passed under section 154 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the A.Y. 2010-11. The Assessing Officer had passed an Assessment Order under section 144 of the Act on 21.01.2013, determining the total income at Rs. 1,59,41,190. Subsequently, penalty proceedings were invoked under section 271(1)(c) of the Act, and a penalty was imposed on 26.07.2013. The quantum addition and penalty imposed were challenged before the ld. CIT(A), who decided the appeal against the penalty order on 25.07.2014. Following this, action under section 154 of the Act was taken, and the impugned order was passed on 17.10.2014.

Upon reviewing the records, it was noted that there was no specific grievance of the assessee against the order passed under section 154 by the ld. CIT(A). The assessee intended to file an appeal against the order dated 24.07.2014, where the penalty was partially confirmed. The counsel for the assessee explained that due to an inadvertent mistake, the appeal was filed against the subsequent order passed under section 154 of the Act. The counsel requested that the assessee be allowed to file a fresh appeal against the order of ld. CIT(A) confirming the penalty imposition. It was suggested that the assessee should be permitted to file fresh grounds of appeal along with a fresh Form No.36 in the existing appeal, as the original order of the ld. CIT(A), Assessment Order, and penalty order were already on record.

After careful consideration, it was decided that instead of substituting the current appeal, the assessee should file a separate appeal with an application for condonation of delay, if necessary. The Tribunal found that the present appeal was not maintainable in its current form. Consequently, the appeal filed by the assessee was disposed of, and the order was pronounced in the open Court on the 4th day of April, 2018.

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