The High Court of Kerala sets aside the direction to pay the 20% assessed Income Tax as the assessee made stay applications/condonation of delay applications. While upholding the direction to the 1st respondent to dispose of the series of applications within a prescribed time, the court modified the latter part of the judgment of the Single Judge and directed that the 5th respondent shall consider the stay applications/delay condonation applications preferred by the appellant,
The Centre For Management Development,the appellant has approached the Court aggrieved by the judgment of a Single Judge in the limited contention urged by the counsel forthe appellant is that the Single Judge while relegating the appellant to his alternate remedy of pursuing appeals, along with delay condonation applications and stay applications, against the impugned assessment orders for the assessment years 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 under the Income Tax Act, had directed the appellant to remit 20% of the assessed amounts in respect of all the assessment years pending disposal of the stay applications/condonation of delay applications by the First Appellate Authority.
Boost Your Business with SME IPO Funding Strategies – Enroll Now
The counsel for the appellant, Sri.Sherry Samuel Oommen would point out that Single Judge had directed the 1st respondent to pass orders on the applications preferred by the appellant under Section 119 of the Income Tax Act for condonation of delay in filing returns which was necessary for a consideration of the claim for exemption made by the appellant on merits. The Single Judge, however, did not thereafter stay the recovery of the assessed amounts from the appellant for the aforementioned assessment years while directing consideration of stay applications/delay condonation applications preferred by the appellant along with the appeals filed before the First Appellate Authority under the Income Tax Act for the said assessment years.
On a consideration of the rival submissions, and finding that the Single Judge by the impugned judgment has already directed the 1st respondent to dispose the series of applications within a specified time limit, and further that the 1st respondent has already summoned the appellant for a personal hearing in connection with the said applications.
A division bench of Dr. Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar & Justice Syam Kumar V.M. modified the writ appeal only the latter part of the impugned judgment of the Single Judge that directs the appellant to pay 20% of the assessed amounts pending consideration of the stay applications/delay condonation applications filed by the appellant before the First Appellate Authority (5th respondent) along with the appeals against the assessment order for the assessment years aforementioned.
Boost Your Business with SME IPO Funding Strategies – Enroll Now
The bench viewed that the latter direction of the Single to be legally unsustainable since the appellant has made out a prima facie case warranting a protection from recovery of the disputed demands pending consideration of the stay applications/condonation of delay applications by the First Appellate Authority.
While upholding the direction to the 1st respondent to dispose the series of applications within a prescribed time, the court modified the latter part of the judgment of the Single Judge and direct that the 5th respondent shall consider the stay applications/delay condonation applications preferred by the appellant, along with the appeals against the assessment orders for the assessment years aforementioned, within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
The recovery of the amounts confirmed against the appellant by the 6 assessment orders impugned in the appeals before the 5th respondent, shall be kept in abeyance till such time as orders are passed by the 5th respondent in the delay condonation applications/stay applications referred above.
Subscribe Taxscan Premium to view the JudgmentSupport our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
