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Facts
The assessee, a French citizen, failed to file an appeal before the Tribunal within the stipulated time due to a delay of 109 days, citing lack of a legal representative in India and unawareness of procedures. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) had dismissed the appeal in limine without adjudicating on merits, also rejecting a condonation of delay application. The assessee's representative faced technical issues leading to the loss of crucial data.
Held
The Tribunal condoned the delay in filing the appeal before the FAA, noting the reasons provided were sufficient and the delay was not inordinate. The Tribunal set aside the order of the FAA and remitted the matter back for adjudication on merits.
Key Issues
Whether the delay in filing the appeal before the First Appellate Authority was sufficient to warrant dismissal in limine, or if an opportunity to adjudicate on merits should be granted.
Sections Cited
250
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘A’ BENCH, CHENNAI
Before: SHRI GEORGE GEORGE KAND SHRI S.R. RAGHUNATHA
आदेश /O R D E R
PER GEORGE GEORGE K, VICE PRESIDENT:
This appeal filed at the instance of the assessee is directed against the order of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi dated 07.08.2024, passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter called ‘the Act’). The relevant Assessment Year is 2019-20.
2. There is a delay of 109 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. The assessee has filed petition for condonation of delay stating therein the reasons for belated filing of this appeal. The reason stated in the petition for belated filing is that the assessee is a French Citizen and does not have any legal representative in India to guide on the legal procedures and the assessee was unaware of the legal steps required to be taken for filing the appeal. Therefore, the appeal could not be filed within the prescribed time. On perusal of the same, we find there is sufficient reason for delay in filing this appeal before the Tribunal. Hence, we condone the delay in filing the appeal and proceed to dispose off the appeal on merits.
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 FAA, we noted that the assessee had filed application for condonation of delay of 15 days. However, the FAA rejected the assessee’s request for condonation and dismissed the appeal of the assessee. The reason stated by the FAA’s order at para 2 which reads as under:- "Post receipt of the order the assessee was to file the appeal within the stipulated time. However due to technical failure on the side of the authorised representative the whole information viz, tally backup, earlier submissions at the time of assessment and other relevant information were unfortunately deleted or lost. In such circumstances the assessee was severely constrained to get the information in place and was successful only partially and hence was not able to file the appeal on time. We pray that this being a one time event which has happened beyond the control of the assessee, the same may be pardoned and the assessee be given an opportunity for the appeal to render justice.”
In our view, since the delay is not being inordinate and in the interest of justice, we condone the delay before FAA and also direct him to admit the issue on merits. Therefore, we set aside the order of FAA 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.
Order pronounced in the open court on 18th June, 2025 at Chennai.