Tribunal remands interest issue to AO for assessment, grants fair hearing. Appeals partly allowed for statistical purposes.

The Appellate Tribunal remanded the issue to the Assessing Officer to determine the allowability of interest after verifying the takeover date of M/s Intra Port India Ltd. by the assessee's group, granting the assessee a fair hearing opportunity. The Tribunal treated certain grounds as allowed for statistical purposes and rejected others not pressed, ultimately treating all the assessee's appeals as partly allowed for statistical purposes regarding the interest payable and the reopening of assessment under section 148 of the IT Act.

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Issues Involved:
1. Interest payable by the assessee to M/s Intra Port India Ltd. during the relevant assessment years.
2. Reopening of assessment u/s 148 of the IT Act and the disallowance of interest payable to M/s Intra Port India Ltd.

Issue 1: Interest payable by the assessee to M/s Intra Port India Ltd. during the relevant assessment years:
The case involved appeals filed by the assessee for the assessment years 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05 regarding the interest payable to M/s Intra Port India Ltd. The assessee, a proprietor of a marketing agency, entered into an agreement with M/s Intra Port India Ltd. for the sale of Snow Budge Beer. Disputes arose regarding the non-refundable interest-free deposits provided by M/s Intra Port India Ltd. The Assessing Officer (A.O) disallowed the interest payable, considering it as undisclosed income of the block period. However, the CIT (A) deleted the addition in the block assessment order, stating it should be considered in regular assessments. The A.O disallowed the claim of interest for the relevant assessment years in regular assessments, which was also upheld by the CIT (A). The issue was brought before the ITAT, where the additional evidence was submitted to show that the assessee was not connected with M/s Intra Port India Ltd. until a later date. The Tribunal remanded the issue to the A.O to verify the takeover date of M/s Intra Port India Ltd. by the assessee's group and decide on the allowability of interest, granting the assessee a fair hearing opportunity.

Issue 2: Reopening of assessment u/s 148 of the IT Act and disallowance of interest payable to M/s Intra Port India Ltd.:
In another appeal not a recalled matter, the assessee challenged the reopening of assessment u/s 148 of the IT Act and the disallowance of interest payable to M/s Intra Port India Ltd. The Tribunal, having already remitted the issue of interest for the earlier assessment years to the A.O, decided to remand the grounds of appeal for this assessment year as well. The grounds against the reopening of assessment were not pressed at that stage. Therefore, the Tribunal treated certain grounds as allowed for statistical purposes and rejected others not pressed. Ultimately, all the assessee's appeals were treated as partly allowed for statistical purposes.

This judgment by the Appellate Tribunal ITAT Hyderabad dealt with the issue of interest payable by the assessee to M/s Intra Port India Ltd. during the relevant assessment years and the reopening of assessment u/s 148 of the IT Act along with the disallowance of interest. The Tribunal remanded the issue to the Assessing Officer to determine the allowability of interest after verifying the takeover date of M/s Intra Port India Ltd. by the assessee's group, granting the assessee a fair hearing opportunity.

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