TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (4) TMI 858
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....tances of the case, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was right in quashing the assessment for the assessment year 1994-95 on the ground that the notice under section 143(2) has not been served on the assessee within the statutory time limit, when in fact it had been served at the address given by her in her return? 2. Whether in the facts and circumstances of the case, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was right in holding that no service of notice under Section 143(2) had been made on the assessee even though the notice had been served at the address mentioned in the return of income for assessment year 1994-95 and no change of address had been intimated to the Income Tax Authorities? 3. Whether in the facts and circumstances of the....
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....hat the notice was served in the address given by her. Subsequently, the assessee's representative filed a letter on 12.03.1997 and after hearing the assessee's representative the assessment was finalised. 4. For the purpose of considering the merits of the Tax Case (Appeal), we are not going into the details of the assessment made since the question raised is purely on the service of the notice. Aggrieved by the said order, the assessee went on appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) where the assessee was represented by M/s.Sashi Prakash Khemka and V.D.Agarwal, CA. In the written submission filed, the assessee pointed out that the assessee was not having any records and due to personal dispute with one Ravi Praka....
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....h the same person, who was representing them in all the proceedings before the Assessing Officer. The assessee and the other family members complied with the directions to the various letters given in the notice. However, in order to escape the liability the present plea had been taken by the assessee. Thus, on the basis of the address given in the return, the notice was rightly served on the assessee. The First Appellate Authority considered the entire matrix and on going through the relevant notice, the documents and the objections of the assessee, held that notice under Section 143(2) of the Act was served on the assessee on 25.03.1995 at the address given in the return of income; that the assessee had failed to notify any change of addr....
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....n as regards the change of address, assuming for a moment that the assessee had shifted her place of residence. The assessee did not deny as a matter of fact that her interest was represented by the person, who had been representing the interests of other family members also in all the proceedings before the Department and the present notice was also received only by the said person, viz.,Sashi Prakash Khemka. 8. In order to find out whether the notice was in fact served at all or not on the assessee, we directed learned Standing Counsel for the Department to find out about the records pertaining to the assessee. 9. Learned Standing Counsel produced the letter from the Income Tax Officer, New Delhi, Ward-23(1) to whom the records pert....
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....f the service of notice which evidences, the receipt of the said notice under Section 143(2) on the assessee's representative on behalf of the assessee and the reply given by Mr.Sashi Prakash Khemka who had been representing the assessee's case to this notice. 11. We find from the facts culled out from the records placed that the said Sashi Prakash Khemka had been consistently representing the case of the assessee and he had also acknowledged the receipt of the notices, photocopy of the acknowledgement for the service of notice and there being no denial by the assessee that the said Sashi Prakash Khemka was representing the interests of the assessee before the Income Tax Authorities, we hold that it is too late in the day for the....
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....oo, we find that the Tribunal had committed grave error in taking a view that the notice had not been properly addressed to the change of address. 15. In the background of the above few facts, the question arises as to whether we can reject the case of the Revenue solely on the ground that there was no production of the original files before the Tribunal or before this Court for that matter. It is no doubt true that inspite of earnest efforts made by the Department, the Department could not get the original records and only photocopy of the acknowledgement was produced before the Tribunal. It is a matter of record that the acknowledgement in photocopy produced before the Tribunal was not denied by the assessee as not pertaining to the as....