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Facts
The assessee, a charitable trust, filed its return of income for AY 2017-18 declaring Nil income after claiming deductions u/s. 11. The return was processed u/s. 143(1) assessing income at Rs. 1,42,35,229/- by denying the exemption. The assessee faced a long delay in filing the first appeal before the FAA, which was dismissed in limine. The assessee then filed an appeal before the Tribunal with a further delay.
Held
The Tribunal condoned the delay of 49 days in filing the appeal before it, finding sufficient cause. However, regarding the significant delay before the FAA, the Tribunal noted that the assessee was not given a proper opportunity to explain the cause for the delay. Therefore, the Tribunal remitted the appeal back to the FAA to reconsider the delay and, if condoned, to decide the appeal on merits.
Key Issues
Whether the delays in filing appeals before the lower authorities were justifiable, and whether the assessee was provided adequate opportunity to present its case.
Sections Cited
11, 143(1), 250, 119(2)(b)
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘B’ BENCH: CHENNAI
Before: MS. PADMAVATHY.S & SHRI MANU KUMAR GIRI
आदेश / O R D E R
PER PADMAVATHY.S, A.M: This appeal by the assessee is against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax /Addl./JCIT(A), Thiruvanthapuram (in short "FAA") passed u/s. 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (in short "the Act") dated 30.07.2025 for Assessment Year (AY) 2017-18.
The assessee is a charitable trust and filed the return of income for A.Y 2017-18 on 08.02.2018 declaring a total income of Nil after claiming deduction u/s. 11 of the Act. The return was processed u/s. 143(1) of the Act assessing the income at Rs. 1,42,35,229/- denying the exemption u/s. 11 of the Act. Aggrieved, the assessee filed an appeal before the FAA. There was a Sri Balaji Educational Trust :- 2 -:
1. delay of 1796 days in filing the appeal before the FAA and the FAA dismissed the appeal in limine stating that the assessee has not justified the reasonable cause. The assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal against the order of FAA.
There is a delay of 49 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. The assessee filed a condonation petition stating that the staff, who was taking care of the income tax matters was not available. Having heard both the parties and perused the material on record, we are of the view that there is a reasonable and sufficient cause for the delay in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. Therefore following the Hon’ble Supreme Court decision in the case of Collector, Land Acquisition Vs. MST.Katiji & Ors., (167 ITR 471) (SC), we condone the delay in filing the appeal and admit the appeal for adjudication.
We have heard the parties, and perused the material available on record. The Ld. Authorized Representative (AR) of the assessee submitted that the assessee being a trust is not fully staffed with people having knowledge of income tax proceedings. The Ld. AR further submitted that the trustees are not well versed in handling income tax matters and also lack technical knowledge to access income tax portal. The Ld. AR also submitted that the delay before the FAA therefore is not due to any deliberate error on the part of the assessee and prayed that the delay before the FAA be condoned. The Ld. AR during the course of hearing presented a table of event from the perusal of which, we notice that the intimation u/s. 143(1) of the Act was passed on 25.03.2019 and the appeal before the FAA was filed on 28.10.2024. One of the reasons stated for the delay is the Covid period and that the assessee was pursuing the condonation delay in filing Form-10B u/s. Sri Balaji Educational Trust :- 3 -:
119(2)(b) of the Act. From the perusal of the order of FAA, we notice that the assessee was given opportunity to represent by issue of only one notice on 15.07.2025 and accordingly we see merit in the submission that the assessee was not given property opportunity to explain the reasonable cause for delay in filing the appeal before FAA. Considering the facts and circumstances unique to the present case, in the interest of natural justice, we are remitting appeal back to the FAA to consider the delay in filing the appeal afresh and if the delay is condoned to consider the appeal on merits. The assessee is directed to file the petition for condonation of delay justifying the reasonable cause as contended. The assessee is further directed to appear before FAA without seeking unnecessary adjournments and cooperate with appellate proceedings.
In the result, appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced on 03rd day of February, 2026 at Chennai.