Vattikundala Prabhakara Rao Vs ITO (ITAT Chennai)
Summary: ITAT Chennai allowed the appeal of a retired ONGC employee and held that he was eligible for the enhanced exemption limit of Rs.25,00,000 under Section 10(10AA)(ii) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 in respect of leave encashment received on retirement for AY 2020-21. The assessee retired from ONGC on 31.05.2019 and received Rs.40,23,450 towards leave encashment as a superannuation benefit. For TDS purposes, exemption had been considered only up to Rs.3 lakh. While filing his return on 14.09.2020 declaring income of Rs.26,42,386, the assessee claimed enhanced exemption relying upon the Delhi High Court decision in Kamal Kumar Kalia & Ors. Vs Union of India & Ors.. The return was processed under Section 143(1), restricting the exemption and determining total income at Rs.63,65,840. CIT(A) dismissed the appeal on the basis that the applicable notified ceiling for a non-Government employee was Rs.3 lakh.
The appeal before the Tribunal was delayed by 1,023 days. The assessee explained that he had been waiting for a judicial development after the CIT(A)’s order and filed the appeal after learning of subsequent Tribunal rulings concerning CBDT Notification No.31/2023 dated 24.05.2023. ITAT followed its Coordinate Bench decision in Balasubramanian Venkatachalaperumal Vs DCIT, where an analogous delay of 1,165 days had been condoned. Relying upon Collector, Land Acquisition Vs. MST.Katiji & Ors., the Tribunal found reasonable and sufficient cause and condoned the delay.
