Professional Commitments of Auditor not 'Reasonable Cause' for Condonation of Delay of 649 Days: ITAT dismisses Appeals of two Assessees [Read Order]

The Chennai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has recently dismissed the appeals of two assessees, as the ‘professional commitments’ of the auditor was no reasonable cause for condonation of delay of 649 days.

The appellants, B Gokula Krishnan and Kokila Balaraman, were represented but only asked for adjournments, which meant that the Assessees did not want to represent the case and hence the appeal was heard as ex-parte qua and decided on merits.

The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] had dismissed the appeal as un-admitted for the reason that there was a delay of 649 days by both the Assessees and that the Assessees could not submit any reason except that his Auditor was preoccupied with his professional commitments and hence the appeal before the CIT(A) could not be filed within 30 days by the appellants.

It was observed how the assessee could not file any evidence as to how the Assessee’s Counsel was preoccupied in his professional commitments for 649 days.

Thus, in the absence of any evidence, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai Bench confirmed the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and dismissed both the appeals of the assessees.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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