Case Law Details
Thenkumarai Primary Agricultural Vs Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Madras High Court)
The judgment delivered by the Madras High Court in W.P.No.7329 of 2024 addresses the challenge against the rejection of an application under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by Thenkumarai Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society. Additionally, the consequential intimation under Section 143(1) of the Income Tax Act is contested in W.P.No.7333 of 2024.
The petitioner, an Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society, underwent statutory audit as mandated by the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983, for the financial year 2018-2019. Despite completion of the audit on 30.09.2019, the audit report was received only in December 2019. Due to the petitioner’s unawareness of the amended provisions of Section 80AC of the Income Tax Act, coupled with the intervening COVID-19 pandemic, the return of income was filed belatedly on 30.06.2020. Subsequently, an application under Section 119(2)(b) seeking condonation of delay was rejected on 29.12.2023.
The petitioner, emphasizing its small-scale operations and the inadvertent delay in receiving the audit report, sought relief from the Court. While acknowledging the petitioner’s failure to provide evidence regarding the date of receipt of the audit report, the Court considered the genuine hardship faced by the petitioner due to the delay.
The Madras High Court, citing precedents and interpreting Section 119(2)(b) liberally, concluded that the petitioner’s circumstances warranted condonation of the delay in filing the return of income. Consequently, the impugned orders were quashed, and the matter was remanded for assessment based on the return of income filed by the petitioner.
Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.
Author Bio
