Gates Unitta India P. Ltd. v. ACIT (2020) 83 ITR 462 (Chennai) (Trib.)

S. 251 : Appeal-Commissioner (Appeals)-Duties-Dismissal of appeal after eight years of filing of an appeal for not mentioning the date of receipt of the order is not mentioned in Form No 35-CIT (A) ought to have issued defect memo and should have decided the appeal on merits after considering material on record-Matter remanded. [S. 250]

Tribunal held that  the very object of mentioning the date of receipt of the assessment order was to compute the period of limitation. The appeal was filed within the period of limitation. Therefore, there was no justification for dismissing the appeal on a technicality on the ground that the date of receipt of the assessment order was not mentioned in form 35. Moreover, the appeal was admittedly filed on January 28, 2011. The appeal was pending for the last eight years. After keeping the matter for the last eight years, dismissing the appeal on the ground that the date of receipt of the assessment order was not filled in form 35 was not correct. The Commissioner (Appeals) ought to have disposed of the appeal on the merits after considering the grounds of appeal and other material on record. Since such an exercise was not done, the matter was to be reconsidered by the Commissioner (Appeals) with the direction   to dispose of the appeals on the merits after giving a reasonable opportunity to the assessee in accordance with law. (AY. 2005-06, 2008-09)