Pending section 146 petition must be decided before sustaining ex parte assessment under section 144.

An appellate authority should not dispose of a quantum appeal while an assessee's timely petition under section 146 remains pending, because the pending request must be addressed before sustaining an ex parte assessment under section 144. Here, the assessee had filed the section 146 petition within time, the failure to place it before the correct assessing officer was inadvertent, and the petition was still undecided when the appeal was heard. The appellate disposal was therefore contrary to the scheme of the Act and the relevant Board circular. The appellate order was vacated and the matter restored for fresh disposal after deciding the section 146 petition and giving reasonable opportunity of hearing.

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Issues: Whether the appellate authority could dispose of the quantum appeal while the assessee's petition under section 146 remained pending, and whether the ex parte assessment under section 144 could be sustained in those circumstances.

Analysis: The assessee had filed a petition under section 146 within the prescribed time, and the omission to place it before the correct assessing officer was found to be inadvertent. The petition was still pending when the quantum appeal was decided. Disposal of the appeal without first addressing the pending section 146 petition was held to be contrary to the scheme of the Act and the relevant Board circular, and the assessee had acted promptly to rectify the mistake.

Conclusion: The appellate order was vacated and the matter was restored for fresh disposal after the section 146 petition is decided and after affording reasonable opportunity of hearing.

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