NFAC order was set aside as notice sent by e-mails received in ‘spam’ folder

NFAC order was set aside by High Court as notice sent by e-mails were received in ‘spam’ folder

In a recent judgment, Hon’ble Kerala High Court has set aside appellate order passed by NFAC as the notice of hearing sent by e-mails were received in ‘spam’ folder and as a result assessee was not aware of notices.

ABCAUS Case Law Citation:
4317 (2024) (11) abcaus.in HC

In the instant case, the assessee had filed a Writ Petition praying setting aside the order of the 1st Appellate Authority on the ground that it did not receive notice of appeal hearing.

The petitioner against the order of assessment, preferred an appeal before the 1^st Appellate Authority. Though the appeal was originally filed before the CIT(A) the same was migrated to the National Faceless Appeal Scheme and was later considered by the National Faceless Appeal Centre.

According to the petitioner, the petitioner did not receive the notices of posting of the appeal and therefore could not appear and contest the matter before the 1st Appellate Authority. It was the case of the Petitioner he did not receive notice of the hearing of the appeal as the notices via e-mails sent by the Appellate Authority were received in the ‘spam’ folder and not in the main folder.

The Department opposed the Petition and stated that the case of the petitioner that e-mails sent by the Appellate Authority were in the ‘spam’ folder cannot be correct and there was no material produced to show that the notices issued were received in the ‘spam’ folder and not in the main inbox folder.

The Hon’ble High Court noted the fact that it was a case where the petitioner had initially filed the appeal before the CIT(A) and the appeal had been migrated to the National Faceless Appeal Scheme on introduction of that scheme. It opined that one final opportunity could be given to the petitioner to contest the matter before the NFAC.

Accordingly, the writ petition was allowed by setting aside the appellate order and directing that the appeal filed by the petitioner be restored to the file of the NFAC who shall pass fresh orders, after affording to the petitioner an opportunity of being heard. The petitioner was also directed to update his e-mail ID on the Income Tax portal and will also regularly check his e-mail ID for any notice issued by the Appellate Authority.

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