The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Hyderabad bench while dismissing the petition for the delay of 301 days observed that the assessee failed to provide reasonable cause for not filing appeal before the appellate authority by giving several opportunities.
Assessee, Renuka Datla is a doctor by profession who filed the appeal against order of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)[CIT(A)]. During the covid situation assessee could not take the order passed by the CIT(A) because of relocation Delhi for attending personal matters before the supreme court. But assessee entrusted her matters to counsel and believed that the counsel prepared the documents and file before the tribunal.
After passing the order by the CIT (A), the draft appeal for all the A.Ys were sent by him to the appellant assessee in the month on 12th February, 2022. assessee has not responded to the same. Thus the counsel assumed that assessee might have approached another Counsel for the purpose of filing the appeals or email might have gone to junk mail.
A.V. Raghuram counsel appeared for assessee and Jeevan Lal Lavidiya, counsel appeared for the revenue.
Further, assessee was busy in contesting her matters before the Supreme Court.
Counsel for revenue submitted assessee was throughout being callous, casual and negligent in pursuing the assessment proceedings/appellate proceedings/Tribunal. Further assessee is not an ordinary person and President/Director in many prestigious pharmaceutical companies.
Thus issue of condonation of delay is no more res integra and he relied upon the judgments passed by the Supreme Court and High Courts as well as the Tribunal.
It was observed by the tribunal that the Assessing Officer has decided the issue ex-parte since the assessee failed to participate in the assessment proceedings. However CIT (A) granted 10 opportunities to the assessee during the appeal proceedings.
Thus assessee failed to appear in the appellate proceedings after which the CIT (A) confirmed the order passed by the Assessing Officer based on the material available on record.
The tribunal said that It is the duty of the assessee to file the appeal within the stipulated time provided under the Income Tax Act unless the assessee is prevented by a reasonable cause from filing of the appeal in time.
In the present case, the assessee has failed to give any reason much less the reasonable cause which prevented the assessee from filing an appeal before the Tribunal.
The assessee was well aware of her right being highly educated and qualified person and also happens to be the Director of various medical companies and infrastructure companies.
Therefore assessee miserably failed to prove her case for a reasonable cause not to file the appeals in time.
After reviewing the facts, the two member bench of Laliet Kumar (Judicial Member) and R.K. Panda (Vice-President) dismissed the condonation petition filed by the assessee.
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