Ex parte tax assessment remanded to appellate file subject to Rs.10,000 cost and matching Bar Association contribution.

Ex parte assessment arising from the assessee's failure to prosecute was addressed; ITAT reprimanded the delay but, invoking the objective that tax should be collected from the liable person, remanded the matter to the file of CIT(A) for fresh adjudication. The remand is subject to payment of Rs.10,000 by the assessee as costs, with an equal Rs.10,000 contribution from the ITAT Tax Bar Association corpus. The order balances procedural default against substantive tax collection and imposes a costs condition to allow re-hearing.

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Issues: Whether the appeal should be remitted to the CIT(A) for fresh consideration and whether the appeal may be allowed for statistical purposes subject to payment of cost.

Analysis: Delay and laches on the part of the assessee at earlier stages are recorded in the proceedings, but having regard to the objective of tax adjudication to collect tax from the person liable and to ensure adjudication on merits, a further adjudication at the appellate level is appropriate. Consideration is given to granting another opportunity before the CIT(A) on condition of payment of a specified cost which is to be partly contributed by the assessee and partly by the Tax Bar Association.

Conclusion: The appeal is remitted to the file of the CIT(A) for fresh consideration subject to payment of Rs.10,000 as cost (with a matching contribution of Rs.10,000 by the ITAT Tax Bar Association) and the appeal is allowed for statistical purposes.

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