The Delhi bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ( ITAT ) dismissed the appeal due to non-responsiveness to statutory notices and the failure to produce evidence during the assessment under Section 143(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The assessee was a resident corporate entity that filed its income return for the relevant year on 30.09.2014, declaring an income of Rs. 5,50,460/-.

The assessing officer initiated scrutiny, issuing statutory notices under sections 142(1) and 143(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Despite multiple notices, the assessee allegedly failed to comply. Only on 16.12.2016, one of the directors provided copies of income returns of two individuals to justify unsecured loans of Rs.1,26,23,000/-.  However, the assessing officer contended that the assessee did not submit adequate evidence, leading to the treatment of unsecured loans as unexplained cash credit under section 68 Income Tax Act,1961. The assessee appealed this addition, but the appeal was ultimately dismissed by the first appellate authority.

The counsel for the Revenue Anuj Gargand examined the available records, it is evident that during the assessment proceedings, the assessee failed to respond to several statutory notices issued by the Assessing Officer. Despite the appearance of one of the Directors just before the completion of the assessment, the provided documents were insufficient to establish the identity, creditworthiness, and genuineness of the unsecured loans amounting to Rs.1,26,23,000/-.

The two member bench of the tribunal comprising M. Bala Ganesh ( Account member ) and Saktijith Dey ( Judicial member ) Addressing the issue of the assessee’s claim about the absence of adequate opportunity, assessment was unawed. The available documentation indicates that the assesse has consistently defaulted in every stage of the process, considering this established pattern of non-compliance, there is no compelling reason to challenge the decision of the first appellate authority. As a result, the grounds presented by the assesse are dismissed. Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.