Lalit Mohan Madhan v. The National Faceless Appeal Centre (Nfac), New Delhi & ORS.

$~26 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 6207/2025, CM APPL. 28408/2025 & CM APPL. 28409/2025 LALIT MOHAN MADHAN .....Petitioner Through:

Mr. Vivek Bansal & Mr. Anil Kumar, Advocates.

versus THE NATIONAL FACELESS APPEAL CENTRE (NFAC), NEW DELHI & ORS.

.....Respondents Through:

Mr. Vipul Agrawal, Sr. Standing Counsel with Ms. Sakshi Semawal, Jr. SC & Mr. Akshat Singh, Jr. SC.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIBHU BAKHRU HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIA

O R D E R

% 09.05.2025 1.

Issue notice. The learned counsel for the Revenue accepts notice. 2.

The petitioner has filed the present petition, inter alia, praying as under:- "(a) issue a writ, order and/or direction in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ or order for directing the Respondents to expedite the hearing and disposal of the pending appeal(Annexure P- 4) bearing number: CIT(A), Delhi - 20/10330/2017-18 for Asst. Year - 2015-16 in a time bound manner and;"

3.

The petitioner is aggrieved by the assessment order dated 29.12.2017 framed in respect of the Assessment Year [AY] 2015-16. Accordingly, the petitioner had filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) - 38, New Delhi [CIT(A)] on 19.01.2018. The petitioner is The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 21:57:12

essentially aggrieved on account of the delay in disposal of its appeal, which has been pending for more than seven years. The petitioner states that the hearing was held before the CIT(A) on 21.12.2018 and a remand report was also sought by the CIT(A) on 15.02.2019. However, thereafter, the petitioner did not receive any information regarding the fate of its appeal in the CIT(A).

4.

Apparently, the petitioner's appeal is transferred to the National Faceless Appeal Centre [NFAC]. The petitioner had also received a communication calling upon the petitioner. The petitioner once again responded to the notice and furnished his request for an oral hearing. However, the petitioner was neither afforded a hearing through video conference nor has his appeal being disposed of. 5.

In the given circumstances of this case, we consider apposite to dispose of the present petition by directing the NFAC or the concerned appellate authority to afford the petitioner an opportunity of being heard and pass an appropriate order in the appeal preferred by the petitioner as expeditiously as possible and preferably within a period of eight weeks from date.

6.

The petition is disposed of in the aforesaid terms. Pending application(s) also stand disposed of.

VIBHU BAKHRU, J TEJAS KARIA, J MAY 09, 2025/ 'A'

Click here to check corrigendum, if any The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/07/2025 at 21:57:12