VASUDEVAN MANIMALA,CHENNAI vs. ITO, NCW-17(2), CHENNAI

The assessee is an individual and did not file the return of income. The A.O received information that the assessee had significant financial transitions. Since the assessee did not file the return of income, the A.O issued a notice u/s. 148A(b) of the Act. Subsequently, the A.O passed an order u/s. 148A(d) of the Act and issued a notice u/s. 148 of the Act on 29.04.2025. The A.O completed the assessment u/s. 147 r.w.s 144 of the Act assessing the income at Rs.7,56,82,270/-. Aggrieved, the assessee filed further appeal before the CIT(A). There was a delay of 124 days in filing the appeal before the CIT(A) and the CIT(A) dismissed the appeal in limine. The assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal against the order of the CIT(A).

We have heard the parties, and perused the material available on record. The Ld. Authorized Representative (AR) of the assessee submitted that the assessee is not aware of the income tax proceedings and completely relied on his counsel for handling the tax matters. The Ld. AR further submitted that the counsel of the assessee did not provide proper professional support and therefore the assessee was not aware that the A.O has passed the assessment order. The Ld. AR also submitted that the assessee was having some health issues due to which he could not concentrate on the tax matters. The ld. AR accordingly prayed for one more opportunity. From the perusal of records, we notice that the assessee has stated the reasons for delay in filing the appeal before the CIT(A) as part of Form 35 and did not file any separate condonation petition or affidavit explaining the reasons. We further notice that the assessee has filed a medical certificate for undergoing physiotherapy and submitted the same as a reason for the delay which was rejected by the CIT(A). Considering the facts and circumstances unique to the assessee's case, we are inclined to give one more opportunity to the assessee in the

In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced on 13th day of May, 2026 at Chennai.