In ITA No. 423/Hyd/2020- ITAT -  ITAT (Hyderabad) rules communications related to Assessments, Appeals and Orders without Document Identification Number have no legal standing
Members Rama Kanta Panda (Accountant) & K. Narasimha Chary (Judicial) [28-04-2023]

Read Order: Sidda Venkata Surya Prakasa Rao v. Asst. Commissioner of Income Tax

Chahat Varma

New Delhi, May 20, 2023: The Hyderabad bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has declared an order dated 23.03.2020 as invalid due to the absence of the Document Identification Number (DIN).

In the present case, the appeal challenged the legal validity of the order dated 23.03.2020, passed by the learned Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCIT) under section 263 of the Income Tax Act. The Revenue argued that the impugned order had a document number, indicating that there was no violation of the Circular No. 19/2019, dated 14.08.2019. The Revenue further contended that even if there was a discrepancy in the DIN, a meritorious case cannot be thrown out without delving into the merits of the same.

The Tribunal noted that there was no denial of the fact that nowhere in the order dated 23.03.2020, there was any whisper about the generation or non-generation of DIN nor was there any reference to the reasons for not generating any computer-based DIN at the time of passing of such order. It was only by way of subsequent communication, that it was communicated to the assessee that the order dated 23.03.2020 was having a DIN number.

The Tribunal noted that as per the CBDT Circular, all communication, including orders, issued from 01.10.2019 onwards should contain the computer-generated DIN. In the absence of the DIN, as stated in paragraph 4 of the Circular, the communication was deemed to have never been issued. The Tribunal acknowledged that paragraph 3 of the Circular provided exceptions in five specific circumstances.

Reliance was also placed on CIT vs. Brandix Mauritius Holdings Ltd. [LQ/DelHC/2023/2729], wherein the Delhi High Court has concluded that any communication related to assessments, appeals, orders, etc., as mentioned in paragraph 2 of the 2019 circular, without the DIN, would have no legal standing considering the provisions of paragraph 4 of the 2019 circular.

The Tribunal observed that in the order passed under section 263 of the Income Tax Act, neither the reasons nor the statement in the prescribed format were found, specifying the particular category of exception that prevented the allotment of the DIN on that day. This was considered as another violation of the provisions by the Tribunal.