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Facts
The assessee, a Government School Teacher, filed appeals against orders of the First Appellate Authority which dismissed the appeals for being time-barred without condoning the delay. The delay was attributed to the assessee's auditor falling ill and being hospitalized. The assessee had provided medical certificates as proof.
Held
The Tribunal noted that the assessee cannot be blamed for the delay due to the auditor's illness, which constitutes a reasonable cause for condoning the delay. The Tribunal found the action of the CIT(A) in refusing to condone the delay to be incorrect.
Key Issues
Whether the delay in filing the appeals before the First Appellate Authority was liable to be condoned due to the illness of the assessee's auditor, and whether the dismissal of appeals on this ground was justified.
Sections Cited
271AAC(1), 270A, 154, 250(6)
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘C’ BENCH: CHENNAI
Before: SHRI ABY T. VARKEY & SHRI S.R.RAGHUNATHA
आदेश / O R D E R PER ABY T. VARKEY, JM: These are appeals preferred by the assessee against the impugned
orders passed by the First Appellate Authority dated 29.10.2025 against
which assessee has preferred ITA No.3478/Chny/2025; and against the
impugned order of the First Appellate Authority dated 25.09.2025,
assessee has preferred ITA No.3479/Chny/2025; and against the
impugned order of the First Appellate Authority dated 25.09.2025
assessee has preferred ITA No.3480/Chny/2025.
ITA Nos.3478 to 3480/Chny/2025 (AY 2022-23) Elumalai Rajeshkumar :: 2 ::
By preferring ITA No.3478/Chny/2025, the assessee has assailed
the action of the First Appellate Authority dismissing the appeal in-limine
without condoning the delay of ‘275’ days, which led to the confirmation
of the rectification of assessment orders dated 22.08.2024 making
addition of ₹3,36,01,861/-.
ITA No.3479/Chny/2025 is against the First Appellate Authority
dismissing the appeal in-limine without condoning the delay of ‘309’ days
confirming the action of the AO by levying penalty u/s.271AAC(1) of the
Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act”) amounting to
₹3,92,130/-.
ITA No.3480/Chny/2025 is against the action of the First Appellate
Authority dismissing the appeal without condoning the delay of ‘303’ days
by confirming the action of the AO levying penalty u/s.270A of the Act
amounting to ₹2,12,14,240/-.
At the outset, the Ld.AR of the assessee submitted that for the
relevant year under consideration i.e. AY 2022-23, the AO has made
quantum assessment of ₹3,36,01,861/- by passing rectification order on
22.08.2024 u/s.154 of the Act by virtue of which he has rectified the
original assessment order dated 16.01.2024. According to the Ld.AR,
after passing the original quantum assessment on 16.01.2024, the AO
has passed penalty order on 19.07.2024 u/s.271AAC(1) of the Act by
ITA Nos.3478 to 3480/Chny/2025 (AY 2022-23) Elumalai Rajeshkumar :: 3 ::
levying penalty of ₹3,92,130/-. According to her, thereafter again the AO
levied penalty u/s.270A of the Act to the tune of ₹2,12,14,240/- by order
dated 24.07.2024. According to the assessee, he being a Government
School Teacher not knowing complexities of the Income Tax Act, 1961
had handed over the aforesaid orders (supra) to his Auditor who promised
to file the appeals. However, he came to know later that the Auditor was
suffering from ill health, by virtue of which, he was bed-
ridden/hospitalized, because of which, he couldn’t file the statutory
appeals before the Ld.CIT(A)/NFAC. In order to support the fact that the
Auditor was bed-ridden/hospitalized, the assessee has filed the Medical
Certificates, copy of which are placed before us. Even though, the
assessee pleaded before the Ld.CIT(A) that the delay in filing of appeals
against the quantum assessment ‘275’ days; appeal against the penalty
levied u/s.271AAC(1) of the Act was delayed by ‘309’ days; and appeal
against the penalty levied was delayed by ‘303’ days, the
Ld.CIT(A)/NFAC by passing the respective impugned orders refused to
condone the delay and dismissed the appeals, without going into the
merits/grounds of appeal raised by the assessee. Aggrieved by the
aforesaid actions, the assessee is before us pleading for condoning the
delay, so that the First Appellate Authority would be able to decide the
grounds of appeal in accordance to law.
ITA Nos.3478 to 3480/Chny/2025 (AY 2022-23) Elumalai Rajeshkumar :: 4 ::
Per contra, the Ld.DR for the Revenue doesn’t want us to condone
the delay. According to the Ld.DR, the assessee should be vigilant and
reminded us that the Law doesn’t help the sleeping person. Therefore,
according to Ld Dr, the First Appellate Authority rightly dismissed the
appeals without condoning the delay. Hence, the Ld.DR doesn’t want us
to interfere with the actions of the First Appellate Authority.
Having heard both the parties and after perusal of the records, we
note that the assessee is a Government School Teacher who had filed his
RoI on 21.05.2022 which was revised on 21.07.2022 for AY 2022-23. ITR
filed by the assessee was subject to scrutiny and the AO passed the
assessment order on 16.01.2024 making certain additions. The AO is
noted to have levied penalty on 19.07.2024 u/s.271AAC(1) of the Act to
the tune of ₹3,92,130/-. Similarly, the AO passed order on 24.07.2024
u/s.270A of the Act levying penalty of ₹2,12,14,240/-. The AO is noted
to have passed rectification order on 22.08.2024 u/s.154 of the Act by
which he has rectified the assessment order dated 16.01.2024 viz by
rectifying the computation income where it was mistakenly stated in
original order as ‘nil’ in respect of the assessed income of ₹3,36,01,861/-.
The assessee is noted to have filed appeal against the action of the AO
against the quantum addition emanating from the rectification order as
well as the penalty orders with delay of around ‘300’ days. The First
Appellate Authority/NFAC by different orders is noted to have refused to
ITA Nos.3478 to 3480/Chny/2025 (AY 2022-23) Elumalai Rajeshkumar :: 5 ::
condone the delay and held that the appeals to be not maintainable. The
assessee has preferred these appeals before this Tribunal and brought to
our notice the reason for delay. Having gone through the
application/affidavit for condoning the delay as well as medical
reports/certificates of the Auditor who was entrusted with the cases
(supra), we find that the assessee can’t be blamed for not filing he
appeals within the statutory period. The assessee is noted to have
handed over the impugned orders of the AO [quantum
assessment/penalty orders] to the Auditor but unfortunately the Auditor
fell ill and was bed-ridden/hospitalized which prevented him from filing of
appeals before the First Appellate Authority/NFAC which is a reasonable
cause for condoning the delay. Therefore, we don’t countenance the
action of the Ld.CIT(A) passing the impugned orders refusing to condone
the delay. Hence, we condone the delay subject to payment of ₹10,000/-
for each appeal to the State Legal Aid Authority, Hon’ble Madras High
Court within three (3) months of receipt of this order; and produce
necessary proof of depositing of the same before the First Appellate
Authority. In light of discussion, we set aside the impugned orders passed
by the Ld.CIT(A)/NFAC and restore the appeals back to the file of the First
Appellate Authority with a direction to admit the appeals, provided the
assessee filed proof of deposit of ₹10,000/- for each appeal, and
thereafter, adjudicate the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee in
ITA Nos.3478 to 3480/Chny/2025 (AY 2022-23) Elumalai Rajeshkumar :: 6 ::
accordance with sub-section (6) of Section 250 of the Act after hearing the assessee. The Ld.AR has undertaken to file all the relevant documents/written submissions in support of grounds of appeal raised by the assessee, which we expect him to diligently do and the Ld CIT(A) to pass orders in accordance to law..
In the result, appeals filed by the assessee are allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced on the 11th day of February, 2026, in Chennai.
Sd/- Sd/- (एस. आर. रघुनाथा) (एबी टी. वक�) (ABY T. VARKEY) (S.R.RAGHUNATHA) लेखा सद�य/ACCOUNTANT MEMBER �याियक सद�य/JUDICIAL MEMBER
चे�ई/Chennai, �दनांक/Dated: 11th February, 2026. TLN आदेश क� �ितिलिप अ�ेिषत/Copy to: 1. अपीलाथ�/Appellant 2. ��थ�/Respondent 3. आयकरआयु�/CIT, Chennai / Madurai / Salem / Coimbatore. 4. िवभागीय�ितिनिध/DR 5. गाड�फाईल/GF