George Mathew Vs ACIT (Kerala High Court)
The Kerala High Court considered a writ petition filed by an assessee under the Income Tax Act, 1961, challenging an order passed by the First Appellate Authority under Section 250 rejecting the assessee’s appeal for failure to upload Form No. 35 along with the assessment order, grounds of appeal and statement of facts. The underlying assessment order was dated 24.03.2016 for assessment year 2009-10, against which the petitioner submitted an appeal manually on 26.04.2016. Electronic filing of appeals had commenced from 01.03.2016. The petitioner stated that, after filing the appeal, notices were issued seeking written submissions, leading to an impression that the appeal had been accepted. Subsequently, a notice dated 24.12.2025 required submission of Form No. 35 and connected documents, but the petitioner did not comply due to a communication gap with the Tax Practitioner. The appeal was ultimately rejected through Ext.P9 solely for failure to furnish it in electronic Form No. 35.
The respondents contended that the petitioner had been given several opportunities to submit the appeal electronically but failed to do so. They also relied on Circular No.20/2016 dated 26.05.2016, which provided time up to 15.06.2016 for uploading documents for proper filing of appeals.
