Jhansi Lakshmi Ramanadham Vs ITO (ITAT Hyderabad)
Age, dependence & apparent injustice matter: ITAT condones delay & restores capital-gains assessment of 81-year-old assessee
Hyderabad ITAT condoned a delay of 292 days in filing the appeal & set aside the ex-parte order, restoring the matter to the file of AO for fresh adjudication. Tribunal noted that the assessee was an 81-year-old lady, unfamiliar with online procedures, dependent on her consultant, & frequently travelling abroad to visit her children settled in the USA. It was found that she became aware of dismissal of her appeal only after recovery of ₹1 crore from her bank account & took steps promptly thereafter.
On merits, ITAT observed that the registered sale deed clearly showed joint ownership of property by the assessee & her two children & that the assessee had received only ₹3 crore out of total consideration of ₹7 crore. Despite this, AO had assessed the entire sale consideration in her hands & denied claims towards selling expenses, indexed cost of improvement & exemptions u/s 54 & 54EC for want of evidence. Holding that the documentary evidence prima facie supported the assessee’s stand & that denial of adjudication on merits would cause injustice, Tribunal restored the issue to AO to re-examine capital gains after affording proper opportunity. Appeal was allowed for statistical purposes.
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