VINU KUNNEL THOMAS,CHENNAI vs. INTL TAXN WARD 2(2) CHENNAI, CHENNAI

This appeal filed at the instance of the assessee is directed against the order of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Chennai-16 dated 18.02.2025 passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter called ‘the Act’). The relevant Assessment Year is 2016-17.

At the very outset, we notice that First Appellate Authority (FAA) had dismissed the appeal of the assessee in limine without adjudicating on merits. The CIT(A) held that there is a delay in filing the appeal before him and there is no reasonable cause for condoning the same.

On perusing the order of the CIT(A), we noted that the assessee had filed the appeal with a delay of around five and a half months. The delay has not been condoned by the CIT(A). The reasons stated by the assessee in Form 35 for delay in filing the appeal before the CIT(A) was that, the assessee is a NRI and when he came to India in October, 2024 his mother, who is not well versed or conversant with the assessment proceedings, gave all papers including a letter sent by the Income Tax Department. The assessee immediately took necessary steps to file an appeal. However, the CIT(A) rejected the assessee’s request for condonation and dismissed the appeal of the assessee. In our view, the reason cited by assessee before CIT(A) seems quite reasonable and hence we condone the delay before CIT(A) and also direct him to admit the issue on merits. Therefore, we set aside the order of CIT(A) and remit the matter back to his file for adjudicating the issue on merits. It is ordered accordingly.

In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.