Home Case Index All Cases Income Tax Income Tax + AT Income Tax - 2016 (10) TMI AT This
Forgot password New User/ Regiser ⇒ Register to get Live Demo
2016 (10) TMI 1310 - AT - Income TaxDraft assessment order u/s 143(3) r.w.s. 144C - maintainability of th objection filed by the assessee under Form No. 35A - curable defect u/s 292B - DRP dismissing the application filed by the appellant in Form 35A in limine by holding that the application is invalid and non-est - Form No. 35A filed by the assessee is only a scanned copy containing the signature of the concerned person - HELD THAT:- Revenue's only objection is regarding furnishing of the application in scanned copy. Otherwise, the said scanned copy is meant for the assessee and for the purposes of the Act in all respects. Further, we find it is undisputed fact that, in response to the show cause notice, the assessee attempts to file the Form No 35A in original and however, the same was not successfully allowed by the DRP. Rather, the DRP preferred to act on the said scanned copy of Form No 35A unfairly and considered the said the scanned application as non-est. Further, it is relevant to mention that the DRP failed to provide the written reasons for rejecting the Original Application attempted to be filed by the assessee in response to the show cause notice. Thus, in our opinion, the expression 'other proceedings' is wider enough to cover the present defect or omission of replacing the scanned copy with the original in time. We order AO accordingly. As per assessee original Form No.35A could not be furnished to replace the scanned copy which is already with DRP, within the prescribed time of 30 days for the reasons as the assessee geographically located in Singapore; the signed original application could not be received in India in time; to meet the dead lines, assessee filed the application with colour scanned copy of Form No.35 with the intention to replace the same with the original one at the time of hearing before the DRP; and there was a change in the tax consultant / AR of the assessee and the responsibility of replacing the scanned copy with the original application has missed inadvertently. As discussed above, we find, the same is not without reason and the same being the change in the Representative. As such, the furnishing of the scanned papers and replacing them with hard copies or soft copies, if any, is now not new to the Department. Further, now, the Revenue started accepting the e-filing of application / appeals these days. Why not this also should not be deemed as such but for the procedural defects, if any. Both decisions of the first appellate authority in treating the application non-est and dismissing the same as in limine are unsustainable in law. We order accordingly. Thus, grounds no.1 to 4 raised by the assessee are allowed.
|