Arham Enterprise Vs ITO (TDS) (ITAT Rajkot)
518-Day Delay Condoned- Ex Parte CIT(A) Order Set Aside- Tribunal Stresses Merits Over Technicalities
AO treated the Assessee as a defaulter for non-collection of TCS on S.S. scrap & raised demand of Rs. 2.57 lakh for AY 2016-17 & Rs. 2.17 lakh for AY 2017-18, along with interest. Appeals before CIT(A)/NFAC were dismissed, doubting genuineness of Form 27C declarations filed belatedly after 28 months, & confirming liability.
Assessee explained that notices & orders were uploaded on an email linked to a partner, which was wrongly forwarded to regular tax consultant instead of the CA handling appeals. This mistake, compounded by partner’s family being affected by COVID & his father’s death, led to delay in filing appeal before ITAT by 518 days (AY 2016-17) & 152 days (AY 2017-18). Supporting affidavit was filed seeking condonation.
Tribunal observed that delay was due to bona fide reasons & not deliberate. Applying principles laid down by SC in Collector, Land Acquisition v. Mst. Katiji (167 ITR 471), it condoned the delay. It further noted that CIT(A) dismissed appeals without proper consideration of facts & submissions. Since the Assessee had prepared reply with Form 27BA (CA certificate) but could not file in time, Tribunal found it appropriate to give one more opportunity. Accordingly, orders of CIT(A) were set aside & matters remanded to AO for fresh adjudication on merits, with direction to consider all evidence & give Assessee adequate opportunity. Appeals were thus allowed for statistical purposes.
