PAVITHRA RANGASAMY,FRANCE vs. THE INCOME TAX OFFICER, INTERNATIONAL TAXATION, WARD 2(1), CHENNAI

At the very outset, we notice that the orders passed by the First Appellate Authority (FAA) are ex-parte, since there was no compliance from the assessee to the notices issued from the office of the First Appellate Authority. The FAA had dismissed the appeals of the assessee in limine without adjudicating on merits. The FAA held that there is a delay of 323 days in filing the appeals against the orders of AO imposing penalty u/s.271(1)(c) & 271(1)(b) of the Act and delay of 502 days in filing the appeal against the quantum appeal and there is no reasonable cause for condoning the same. Further, we also notice that the assessment has been completed on best judgment assessment u/s. 147 r.w.s. 144 r.w.s.144B of the Act.

On perusing the orders of FAA, we note that the assessee had stated the reason for delay in filing the appeals before him. The reason stated is that the assessee is working in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, and was offered deputed in France and relocated to France and has been domiciled in France since December, 2015. Since the assessee has completely shifted the residence to France, assessee was unaware of the notices being issued by the AO since it was delivered to her Chennai address, to 4083/Chny/2025 :- 3 -: where aged mother-in-law is staying. Due to old age and not conversant with English or income tax matters, her mother-in- law could not communicate the same to the assessee. Hence, the assessee could not attend the assessment proceedings. During 2024, though the assessee received e-mail communication from verification unit, from France assessee could not effectively engage a professional consultant or take protective steps to initiate necessary actions. Only during her personal visit to India, assessee could engage a professional consultant and filed appeals before the FAA, which has resulted in delay. However, the FAA rejected the assessee’s request for condonation by holding that there is no reasonable cause and dismissed the appeals of the assessee. In our view, the reason cited by assessee before FAA for belated filing of appeals are bonafide and there is reasonable cause for late filing of appeals before him. Hence, we condone the delay in filing the appeals before FAA. Therefore, we set aside the orders of FAA.