Indian Overseas Bank Employees Cooperative Vs ITO (ITAT Kolkata)
ITAT Kolkata held that huge delay of 388 days on the reason that delay occurred due to death of its Chartered Accountant is not cogent and not acceptable. Thus, condonation denied since sufficient reason to condone delay not explained.
Facts- The assessee-appellant is a registered Cooperative Credit Society constituted by staff members working in Indian Overseas Bank and registered under Cooperative Societies Act. It is a non-profit Organization look after the welfare of its members. AO has not considered the benefit u/s. 80P of the Act and also made a disallowance of expenditure u/s. 40(a)(ia) of the Act on the ground that there was non-compliance to Chapter XVIIB of the Act.
CIT(A) dismissed the appeal. On being aggrieved, the assessee-Society preferred an appeal before the ITAT with a delay of 388 days.
Conclusion- Held that as per the death certificate, CA Sumanta Kumar Dasgupta of the assessee-Society passed away on 30th December, 2022. The ld. CIT(Appeals) passed the impugned appellate order on 21st February, 2023. The ld. CIT(Appeals) fixed the date for hearing of the appeal of the assessee-Society on 20th February, 2023, on the said date of hearing, somebody represented the matter before the ld. CIT(Appeals) and filed its reply on 20.02.2023. The said fact was mentioned in page no. 7 of ld. CIT(Appeals)’s order. Therefore, one thing is clear that the assessee-Society even after demise of its Chartered Accountant, pursued the matter before the ld. CIT(Appeals) and filed its reply before the ld. CIT(Appeals). Therefore, the reason for the delay occurred due to the death of its Chartered Accountant, as pleaded by the assessee-Society, is not cogent and not acceptable. Therefore, I am of the firm view that the assesese-Society miserably failed to explain the sufficient reason to condone the huge delay of 388 days. Therefore, I am of the view that it is not a fit case to condone the huge delay of 388 days on the incorrect reason and hence dismissed.
