KRANTI EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY,HYDERABAD vs. INCOME TAX OFFICER, WARD-5(1), HYDERABAD

The brief facts of the case are that the appellant is an educational society but does not have registration either u/s 12A or approval u/s 10(23C) of the I.T. Act, 1961. The assessee filed its return of income for both the A.Ys u/s 139(1) of the I.T. Act, 1961 and return of income filed by the assessee has been processed u/s 143(1) of the Act by making disallowances on depreciation.

The assessee carried the matter in appeal before the first appellate authority and such appeals have been filed on 4.4.2022. The learned CIT (A) dismissed the appeals filed by the assessee for both the A.Ys on the ground that there is a delay in filing of the appeals which could not be explained by the assessee with necessary reasons. According to the learned CIT (A), as per provisions of section 249 of the I.T. Act, 1961, the appeal was to be filed within 30 days from the date on which the order was served and if we go by the claim of the assessee itself, it was stated in Form 35 that the order of the assessment was served on 9.3.2020 for the A.Y 2018-19 and on 21.10.2020 for A.Y 2019-20. There is a delay of almost 25 months for the A.Y 2018-19 and 17 months for the A.Y 2019-20. Although the delay is purely covered by the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in suo moto writ petition 3/2020 and such order is extended up to 15.3.2021 with a grace period of 90 days and if we consider the said date, the assessee sought to have filed the appeal latest by 15.06.2021, whereas the appellant has filed the appeal on 4.4.2022 which is beyond the limitation period under the Act and thus, rejected the explanation of the assessee and dismissed the appeal filed by the assessee for both the A.Ys as unadmitted.

The learned Counsel for the assessee Shri P. Vinod, Advocate referring to the dates submitted that the assessment order for the A.Y 2018-19 was passed on 9.3.2020. The assessment order for the A.Y 2019-20 was passed on 21.10.2020, The appellant has filed the appeal on 4.4.2022 for both the A.Ys. Although there is a delay of about 17 to 25 months in filing the appeal for both the A.Ys, but the said delay was fully covered by the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the suo moto writ petition No.03/2020 and subsequent Miscellaneous Application No.21/2022 dated 10.01.2022, where the limitation has been extended up to 28.02.2022 with a grace period of 90 days. If we consider the above period, the appeal filed by the assessee for both the A.Ys are well within the time prescribed under the Act and thus, the learned CIT (A) ought not to have dismissed the appeal filed by the assessee. Therefore, he submitted that the appeals should be set aside to the file of the learned CIT (A) to condone the delay and to decide the issues on merit.

The learned DR, on the other hand, fairly agreed that the learned CIT (A) did not consider subsequent order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 10.01.2022 and if we consider the said order, the delay in filing of the appeal by the assessee is covered by the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and thus, the matter may be set decided in accordance with law.

We have heard both the parties, perused the material available on record and gone through the orders of the authorities below. Although the learned CIT (A) took cognizance of the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in W.P 3/2020 dated 8.3.2021 which extended the limitation applicable for all proceedings before the Courts/Tribunals up to 14.3.2021, but failed to consider subsequent order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in M.A No.21/2022 dated 10.01.2022. If we consider the extension of limitation granted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in the said order, the appeal filed by the appellant for both the A.Ys are well within the time prescribed under the law. Further, the Hon'ble Supreme Court extended the limitation up to 28.02.2022 with a grace period of 90 days from 1.3.2022 for all the proceedings before the Courts/Tribunals. If we consider the limitation extended by the Hon'ble Supreme Court by the order dated 10.01.2022, the appellant ought to have filed the appeal on or before 30.05.2022. Since the appellant has filed the appeal on 4.4.2022 for both the A.Ys, in my considered opinion, the appeals filed by the assessee are within the time prescribed under law and therefore, we condone the delay in filing of the appeal for both the A.Ys before the learned CIT (A) and restore the issue back to the file of the learned CIT (A) to decide the issues on merit.

In the result, appeals filed by the assessee for both the A.Ys are allowed for statistical purposes.