Sandeep Arjun Narang Vs ITO (ITAT Mumbai)
Summary: Mumbai ITAT allowed the appeal of Sandeep Arjun Narang and quashed the CPC intimation under section 143(1) for AY 2024-25, which had disallowed deduction of Rs.13,59,600 on the ground that delayed e-verification converted the return into a belated return under section 139(4). The assessee maintained that the return itself had been filed on 25.07.2024, but e-verification could be completed only on 25.08.2024 because of technical glitches. The dispute was material because the assessee had opted for the old tax regime and the Department treated the option as not having been exercised within the prescribed time under section 115BAC(6).
The Tribunal noted that the email dated 15.03.2025 produced by the assessee showed that the return had in fact been filed on 25.07.2024 and was e-verified on 25.08.2024 on account of technical glitches. It considered the Pune Bench ruling in ITO v. Kumar Builders Project Pune Pvt. Ltd., where a two-second delay in e-verification was accepted. That decision had also noticed The Khedbrahma Taluka Primary Teachers Co-op Credit Society Ltd. v. ADIT, involving a delay of four minutes and forty-two seconds, while the Mumbai Bench additionally referred to Tenovia Solutions Pvt. Ltd., involving a delay of twelve minutes and thirty-one seconds. Although those delays were considerably shorter, the Tribunal held that the principle underlying those rulings was germane to the present dispute.
