Tribunal grants relief for delayed appeal due to lack of electronic access, deems reassessment order invalid

The Tribunal allowed relief to the assessee by condoning the delay in filing the appeal due to lack of access to electronic communication. The subsequent reassessment order was deemed invalid as an initial reassessment order was already in place, leading to the quashing of the impugned assessment order and the first appellate order. The appeal was partly allowed, with the second ground left unadjudicated.

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Issues involved: Condonation of delay in filing appeal, Validity of subsequent assessment order u/s 147/143(3) of the Act.

Condonation of delay in filing appeal:
The appeal was filed by the assessee against the order dated 27.04.2022 of the Ld. NFAC, New Delhi, relating to Assessment Year 2011-12. The assessee sought condonation of the delay of 191 days in filing the appeal, stating that they were not aware of the dismissal of the first appeal by the ld. CIT(A) as the order was sent through mail and the assessee had no access to it due to lack of means and knowledge. The Tribunal noted that the assessee, a less literate person running a ration shop, had a valid reason for the delay as they did not have access to electronic communication. The delay was condoned, and the appeal was admitted for hearing.

Validity of subsequent assessment order u/s 147/143(3) of the Act:
The assessee contended that a reassessment order was passed by ITO, Ward 47(2), Delhi for the same Assessment Year 2011-12 before the impugned assessment order dated 06.08.2018. The Tribunal considered the submissions and found that the subsequent ex-parte reassessment order by ITO, Ward 63(3) was not valid as the initial reassessment order by ITO, Ward 47(2) was already in place. Therefore, the impugned assessment order dated 06.12.2018 and the first appellate order dated 27.04.2022 were quashed. The ground raised by the assessee was allowed, resulting in the appeal being partly allowed.

Final Decision:
The Tribunal allowed relief to the assessee by quashing the impugned assessment order and the first appellate order. As no arguments were presented on the second ground, it was left unadjudicated. The appeal of the assessee was partly allowed, and the order was pronounced in the open court on 07.06.2023.

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