The Kerala High Court permitted to rectify the income tax returns (ITR) as the application under Section 119 (2) (b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was filed seeking condonation of delay to rectify ITR.
The present writ petition has been filed impugning the order in passed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax rejecting petitioner’s application for condoning the delay in filing the return of income for the assessment years 2016-17. The ground on which the application has been rejected is the time period prescribed for condoning the delay of six years as per the Circular No. 9/2015 dated 09.06.2015.
The petitioner has filed the application on 31.05.2023 in respect of the assessment year 2016- 17. The six years got over on 30.03.2023. However the application came to be filed on 31.05.2023. In view thereof, in the impugned order it mentioned that since petitioner’s application is not in accordance with the conditions specified in the CBDT Circular No. 9/2015 dated 09.06.2015, the application got rejected.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner got no information in respect of his returns of income submitted for the assessment years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 resubmitted on request dated 26.02.2019 before the 3rd respondent, giving details of the refund for which the petitioner was entitled. The petitioner has also filed complaint on Public Grievance Portal of the Prime Minister’s Office. In response to the same, the petitioner was awarded Rs. 2,32,549/- vide the intimation dated 13.10.2022 and thus, the petitioner’s grievance for refund pertaining to the assessment years 2017-18 and 2018-19 got redressed.
A Single Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed that “I am of the view that the application dated 31.05.2023 should not be treated in isolation as it dates back to 26.02.2019 when, the petitioner raised her grievance for the first time. Thus, I view the application said to be on time. Hence the impugned order is set aside. The petitioner should be permitted to rectify the returns of income for the assessment year 2016-17. The petitioner should approach the Assessing Authority within a period of ten days from today and rectify the errors/defects in the returns. After the petitioner rectifies the errors, his claim for refund should be processed in accordance with the law.”
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