Sekar Gnanaprakasam Vs DCIT (ITAT Chennai)
Summary: The Chennai Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal considered two appeals filed by Shri Sekar Gnanaprakasam against orders of the Addl./JCIT(A)-12, Mumbai, which had dismissed his appeals in limine without examining the merits. The First Appellate Authority had refused to condone delays of 1,592 days and 1,455 days in filing the appeals.
The assessee, a senior citizen and retrenched employee of BSNL, explained that the delay was caused by his lack of awareness of the correct legal position concerning exemption available under section 10(10B) and section 10(10AA) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. He became aware of the exemption under section 10(10B) after decisions concerning BSNL VRS cases were circulated among employees through WhatsApp groups.
The Tribunal found merit in the explanation. It noted that the assessee was a senior citizen and retrenched BSNL employee who was unaware of the legal position concerning exemption of VRS compensation. The Tribunal held that the subsequent lapse of time after the relevant Tribunal decision could not, in the circumstances, justify denial of substantial justice when the assessee had explained that knowledge of the decision was acquired only later. It accordingly condoned the delays of 1,592 days and 1,455 days and proceeded to consider the substantive issue.
