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Facts
The assessee filed an appeal against the order of the CIT(A) for AY 2017-18. The assessee did not appear at the hearing, but the appeal was adjudicated with the assistance of the DR. A delay of 194 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal occurred due to circumstances beyond the assessee's control, as contact details in the e-filing portal were outdated.
Held
The Tribunal condoned the delay of 194 days in filing the appeal before it, noting a reasonable cause. Subsequently, the Tribunal also condoned a meagre delay of 6 days in filing the appeal before the CIT(A). The matter was restored to the CIT(A) for a fresh decision.
Key Issues
Whether the delay in filing the appeal before the Tribunal and CIT(A) should be condoned and the appeal restored to the CIT(A) for fresh adjudication.
Sections Cited
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, AGRA BENCH ‘SMC’ : AGRA.
(Assessment Year: 2017-18) Sewa Sahakari Samiti Maryadit, vs. ITO, Ward 2(3)(3), (alias Prathmik Krishi Sakh Sahkari Jhansi. Samiti Maryadit Indergarh), Gram Indragarh Datia, Datia– 475 661 (Madhya Pradesh) . (PAN : AAWFS2482G) (APPELLANT) (RESPONDENT) ASSESSEE BY : None REVENUE BY : Shri Shailendra Srivastava, Sr. DR Date of Hearing : 13.10.2025 Date of Order : 28.10.2025 O R D E R
PER S. RIFAUR RAHMAN, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER :
The assessee has filed appeal against the order of the Learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)/National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi [“Ld. CIT(A)”, for short] dated 25.11.2024 for the Assessment Year 2017-18.
None appeared on behalf of the assessee. We are proceeding to adjudicate the matter with the assistance of ld. DR of the Revenue.
At the time of hearing, it is brought to our notice that there is a delay of 194 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal on the ground that the delay in filing the appeal has occurred due to circumstances that were entirely beyond the control of the assessee; all notices and communications issued by the Income-tax authorities were not received by the assessee because the contact details (mobile number and email ID) recorded in the e-filing portal were in the name of Smt. Hemlata Gupta, former secretary who is no longer associated with the society. It is submitted in the condonation application that the delay is neither intentional nor deliberate and accordingly requested to condone the delay and assessee has filed affidavit in support thereof.
On the other hand, ld. DR of the Revenue objected to the same and submitted that the delay is inordinate and should not be condoned.
Considered the submissions of the ld. DR and the application for condonation of delay. After going through the application for condonation of delay, we observe that there was a reasonable cause in filing the appeal belatedly and accordingly, we are inclined to condone the delay. 6. Further on merits of the appeal, at the time of hearing, we observe that the appeal was filed before the ld. CIT (A) on 18.02.2020 with a delay of 6 days and the assessee has not acknowledged the delay in filing the appeal in Form No.35 and also not filed any sufficient cause for not presenting the appeal within the time allowed. Accordingly, ld. CIT (A) dismissed the appeal in limine on the ground that the assessee has not made a case for having sufficient cause for delay in filing the appeal.
On the other hand, ld. DR for the Revenue relied on the orders of the authorities below.
Considered the submissions of the ld. DR of the Revenue and material placed on record. We observe that there is a meagre delay of 6 days in filing the appeal before the ld. CIT (A) and the ld. CIT (A) dismissed the appeal being invalid and non-maintaining. We condone the delay in filing the appeal before the ld. CIT (A) being a meagre delay of 6 days. Accordingly, in the interest of justice, we restore the matter to the file of ld. CIT (A) to decide afresh as per law, after giving an opportunity of being heard to the assessee. We also direct assessee to make proper submissions and appear before the ld.CIT (A) on the date of hearing and cooperate with the tax authorities. Accordingly, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open court on this 28th day of October, 2025.