Decade-Late Claim: Delhi HC Declines to Order Form 26A Issuance to Kohinoor Educational Services [Read Order]
The Court noted that the petitioner had failed to provide an explanation for the unprecedented delay of over 10 years in requesting the certificate and had attempted to rely on an inapplicable legal provision.
The Delhi High Court has refused to direct the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to issue Form 26A to Kohinoor Educational Services Pvt. Ltd. (KESPL), holding that the claim raised nearly a decade after termination of the underlying licence agreement was barred by delay and laches.
The Division Bench further held that the statutory conditions under Section 201 ofthe Income Tax Act did not apply to most of the assessment years for which the petitioner sought relief, resulting the request untenable even on merits.
The appellant, Kohinoor Educational Services Pvt. Ltd. (KESPL) had approached the High Court seeking a mandamus directing the Executive Director (Finance), AAI, to issue the accountant’s certificate in Form 26A for payments made under a licence agreement executed on 3 April 2009 for operating facilities at the Salem Airport.
The agreement was valid for five years and ended on 2 April 2015. Despite the long lapse of time, KESPL filed a writ petition in 2024, prompting the Single Judge to dismiss it on the grounds of extreme delay and non-availability of necessary records.
On appeal, Kohinoor Educational Services argued that an RTI response received in April 2025 showed certain payment information predating April 2013, and therefore AAI should be compelled to issue Form 26A.
The appellant contended that the details now provided could allow AAI to satisfy the statutory conditions for issuance of the certificate, which would prevent the assessee from being treated as an assessee-in-default under Section 201.
The Bench, however, noted that the RTI material was never presented before the Single Judge and no formal application had been filed to bring new documents on record. Also,, the Court accepted AAI’s position that physical records for periods prior to 1 April 2013 were irretrievably destroyed in the 2015 floods and digital records under the earlier accounting system were not retrievable making verification impossible. Verification of corresponding income is a mandatory prerequisite for issuing Form 26A.
The Division Bench also supported the Single Judge’s finding that the first proviso to Section 201 which enables relief from being treated as an assessee-in-default, subject to Form 26A requirements came into effect only on 1 July 2012.
Because the proviso's statutory scope did not include the core period of KESPL's claim, which ran from FY 2009-10 to FY 2012-13, the remedy was unsustainable.
The Court noted that the petitioner had failed to provide an explanation for the unprecedented delay of over 10 years in requesting the certificate and had attempted to rely on an inapplicable legal provision.
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“We also note that the learned Single Judge has taken into consideration the fact that the appellant has invoked the writ jurisdiction of this Court after a substantial period of ten years had passed from the date when the alleged reason or alleged cause of action may have arisen in favour of the appellant. On that count too, we are unable to disagree with the opinion rendered by the learned Single Judge”, said the bench.
Accordingly, the court refused to issue the directions to the AA1 and dismissed the petition.
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