ITAT Ahmedabad Allows Section 10(10B) Exemption Claim for BSNL VRS Compensation

Kirtida Rajeshkumar Shah Vs ITO (ITAT Ahmedabad)

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Ahmedabad, heard the assessee’s appeal against the order of the Addl./Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)-2, Kolkata dated 26.11.2025 for Assessment Year 2021-22.

The assessee challenged the appellate order on multiple grounds. It was contended that the Commissioner (Appeals) erred in refusing to condone the delay in filing the appeal despite the delay having occurred due to the assessee’s bona fide ignorance regarding the availability of exemption under Section 10(10B) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and lack of legal knowledge. The assessee also contended that the Commissioner (Appeals) wrongly treated the exemption claim as a new claim, ignored the appellate authority’s powers to grant legitimate relief, dismissed the appeal without deciding the merits despite the decision in Harish Kumar vs. ITO, and passed the order without granting reasonable opportunity of hearing or issuing statutory notice under Section 250 of the Act.

The assessee was a retired employee of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) who had received compensation under the BSNL Voluntary Retirement Scheme, 2019 (BSNL VRS-2019). According to the assessee, the compensation fully complied with the conditions prescribed under Rule 2BA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, making it eligible for exemption under Section 10(10B) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. However, due to lack of awareness of the legal provisions while filing the return of income, the compensation was inadvertently offered to tax.