Vidya Shankar Jaiswal Vs ITO (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court allowed the appeals arising from the dismissal of the appellant’s challenge to an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Raipur Bench, concerning a 166-day delay in filing ITA No.351/RPR/2023. The Supreme Court held that both the Tribunal and the High Court ought to have adopted a justice-oriented and liberal approach while considering condonation of the delay. It therefore set aside both impugned orders, condoned the 166-day delay and directed the Tribunal to decide the appeal in accordance with law. The Supreme Court did not decide the underlying tax dispute on merits.
Read HC Judgment in this case: Chhattisgarh High Court Dismisses Income Tax Appeal Over 166-Day Delay
The underlying proceedings concerned Assessment Year 2014-15. The Assessing Officer, by order dated 16.12.2018 under Sections 144/147 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, determined the appellant’s income at Rs. 34,67,700/-, treating cash deposits of the same amount in his savings bank account as unexplained money under Section 69A of the Income-tax Act. The appellant had subsequently filed a return declaring total income of Rs. 9,99,250/-.
The CIT(A) dismissed the first appeal by order dated 29.03.2023. The appellant thereafter filed the appeal before the ITAT on 10.11.2023 along with an application and affidavit seeking condonation of the 166-day delay. The ITAT, by order dated 13.02.2024 in ITA No.351/RPR/2023, declined to condone the delay.
