NATESAN SHANTHI,NAMAKKAL vs. ITO, WARD-1,, NAMAKKAL

At the outset, the Ld.AR of the assessee pointed out that the Ld.CIT(A) had dismissed the appeal of the assessee on the ground that there was a delay of more than 100 days in filing of the appeal before him and therefore, he didn’t condone the delay and dismissed the appeal without going into the merits of the case. Before us, the Ld.AR explained the delay [in filing of appeal before the Ld CIT(A)] that the assessment order was passed by the AO on 25.12.2019 and the assessee was supposed to file the same before due-date 24.01.2020. However, according to the Ld.AR, assessee filed the appeal on 02.06.2020 i.e, delay of 129 days, but since Covid-19 pandemic hit India by 14.03.2020, effective delay was 50 days, and therefore, the assessee couldn’t file the appeal before the Ld.CIT(A). We note that the Ld.CIT(A) has not admitted the assesse’s appeal, since assessee failed to show reasonable cause for the delay caused in filing of the appeal. However, we find that the delay in filing appeal was only ‘50’ days and considering the fact that Covid-19 pandemic created lockdown etc, we condone the delay and restore the appeal back to the file of the Ld.CIT(A) and direct him to decide the grounds of appeal raised by assessee on merits as contemplated u/s.250(6) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The assessee is directed to be diligent and file written submissions/relevant documents before the First Appellate Authority to substantiate its grounds of appeal

(AY 2017-18) Smt. Natesan Shanthi and the Ld.CIT(A) after giving proper opportunity to the assessee, to pass speaking order in accordance to law.

In the result, appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.