The Kerala High Court condoned the delay of 11 days as the delay in filing an Income Tax appeal occurred due to the non-availability of a legal consultant. The court observed that filing an appeal in tax matters may require legal and technical assistance.
The Meenachil Taluk Cooperative Employees Cooperative Society Limited, the petitioner/assessee is a cooperative society, filed its return of income for the assessment year 2017-18 and claimed deduction under Section 80P of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Income Tax assessing officer completed the assessment and passed the order under Section 143(3). The Assessing Officer disallowed the deduction claimed by the petitioner under Section 80P of the income tax legislation.
The petitioner preferred an appeal under Income Tax Section 246A in Form No. 35 before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals). The petitioner has stated that there is a delay in filing the appeal. The ground for condonation of delay was the non-availability of our legal consultant, who was out of station due to some personal reasons.
The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)[ CIT(A)] refused to condone the delay and dismissed the appeal, stating that the application does not explain the reasons, much less demonstrate sufficient cause for condoning the delay. It was a settled position of law that the assessee is duty-bound to explain each day’s delay after the last date of limitation.
The assessee argued that dismissing the statutory appeal by refusing to condone the delay of 11 days is arbitrary and illegal. The appellate authority went wrong in relying on judgments that are irrelevant and not applicable to the facts of the case.
A single bench of Justice Murali Purushothaman has observed that the reason for not filing the appeal on time was the non-availability of the legal consultant and viewed that “the taxation laws and the procedures involved in filing an appeal may be beyond comprehension for a layman assessee.” While allowing the petition, the High court held that the reason advanced by the petitioner for condoning the delay in filing the appeal is sufficient, and the delay should have been condoned by the income tax appellate commissioner. Further, directed the CIT(A) to consider the appeal on merits for two months after allowing the petitioner to hear it
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