Jalan Niketan Private Limite Vs ACIT (ITAT Kolkata)
The Assessee filed an appeal against the revision order u/s 263 passed by Pr.CIT on 24.03.2021 for AY 2016-17. The appeal, however, was filed 1355 days late, requiring condonation of an exceptionally long delay.
To support condonation, the Assessee submitted an affidavit of its director Shri Pratik Jalan (full text visible on pages 2–3 along with stamp paper image). He stated that:
• he was not conversant with technical matters of the Income-tax Portal;
• mistakes occurred in computing delay;
• appeal against the 263 order “should have been filed earlier”;
• the company depended on him & its staff, none of whom understood intricacies of tax law;
• delay was caused due to these internal limitations.
However, Tribunal observed that the affidavit did not provide any valid or reasonable cause for a delay of almost four years. On page 4 of the order, the Bench clearly records that the affidavit lacked:
• any cogent explanation,
• any documentary support, and
• any circumstances showing impossibility or hardship preventing timely filing.
The explanations offered were generic, self-serving, and failed to meet the legal threshold for “sufficient cause”. Tribunal held that inability to understand tax law, portal issues, or internal lapses cannot justify such an extraordinary delay.
Since the delay was not condoned, the appeal could not be admitted. Consequently, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal in limine without examining the merits of the 263 order.
The appeal was dismissed.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF ITAT KOLKATA
