TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (7) TMI 950
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....for short, "AO") under section 147 r.w.s 144B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (for short, "the Act"), dated 19/03/2024 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2018-19. The assessee has assailed the impugned order of the CIT(A) on the following grounds of appeal: "1. The CIT(A) is erroneous both on facts and in law 2. The Id. CIT(A) ought to have provided proper opportunity before dismissing the appeal. 3. The Id. CIT(A) erred in dismissing the appeal ex-parte without providing proper opportunity. 4. The Id. CIT(A) ought to have held that the notice issued u/s. 148A(b) order u/s. 148A(d) and notice u/s. 148 were not issued by the appropriate authority and therefore the assessment is not valid. 5. The CIT(A) ough....
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....the appeal was fixed for hearing, had either not participated or adopted an evasive approach by seeking adjournments, thus held a conviction that the assessee was not keen to pursue the appeal. Accordingly, the CIT(A), based on his aforesaid conviction, dismissed the appeal on the ground of want of prosecution. 6. The assessee, aggrieved with the order of the CIT(A), has carried the matter in appeal before us. 7. We have heard the Learned Authorised Representatives of both parties, perused the orders of the authorities below and the material available on record. 8. Smt. S Sandhya, Advocate, Learned Authorised Representative (for short, "Ld. AR") for the assessee, at the threshold of hearing of the appeal, submitted that the CIT(A) ....
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....has to be disposed of based on the facts borne from the record, but at the same time, we are unable to persuade ourselves to subscribe to the manner in which the present appeal has been dismissed by him for want of prosecution. In our view, the CIT(A), despite failure on the part of the assessee appellant to participate in the proceedings before him, remained under a statutory obligation to have disposed of the appeal by considering the grounds of appeal based on which the impugned order was assailed before him. At this stage, we may herein observe that a perusal of the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee before the CIT(A) reveals that he had, inter alia, assailed the validity of the jurisdiction that was assumed by the AO for framing ....
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....iles an appeal under s. 246A of the Act, it is not open to him as of right to withdraw or not press the appeal. In fact the CIT(A) is obliged to dispose of the appeal on merits. In fact w.e.f. 1st June, 2001 the power of the CIT(A) to set aside the order of the AO and restore it to the AO for passing a fresh order stands withdrawn. Therefore, it would be noticed that the powers of the CITIA) are co-terminus with that of the AO i.e. he can do all that A.O could do. Therefore, just as it is not open to the AO to not complete the assessment by allowing the assessee to withdraw its return of income, it is not open to the assessee in appeal to withdraw and/or the CIT(A) to dismiss the appeal on account of non- prosecution of the appeal by the as....