Chintan Navnitlal Parikh (HUF) Throu Karta Chintan Vs Deputy Secretary (OT And WT) (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court considered a writ petition challenging an order dated 16.05.2018 rejecting the petitioner’s application under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 for condonation of delay in filing the return of income for Assessment Year 2014-15. The petitioner, a Hindu Undivided Family, had filed its return on 31.12.2014, declaring nil income and claiming carry forward of long-term capital loss of ₹1,39,41,842/-. The statutory due date for filing the return was 30.07.2014. Because of the delayed filing, the loss was not permitted to be carried forward under Section 139(3). The petitioner thereafter filed an application under Section 119(2)(b) on 14.11.2016, seeking condonation of the delay.
The petitioner submitted that the delay of 152 days resulted from genuine hardship, including the serious illness and prolonged absence of the senior accountant, corruption of computer data requiring reconstruction, heavy rainfall disrupting work on 29 and 30 July 2014, and the engagement of employees in completing statutory accounts of a group company. It was also contended that the authority wrongly treated the petitioner as a habitual defaulter, despite due dates having been extended by the tax authorities in several earlier years. The petitioner relied upon CBDT Circular No. 9/2015, Circular No. 8/2001, and several judicial precedents to contend that delay in claiming carry forward of losses could be condoned to avoid genuine hardship.
