Murugesan Senthil V. The Secretary,

WP(MD)/5344/2026

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The case involves a writ petition filed by Murugesan Senthil against the Secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes, and other income tax officials, seeking a writ of mandamus to direct the second respondent to consider the petitioner's application for condonation of delay in filing income tax returns for the Assessment Year 2020-2021. The petitioner initially faced a 62-day delay in filing the returns, for which an application was submitted under section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act. This application was rejected, leading to a previous writ petition (W.P.(MD)No.5159 of 2025) that set aside the rejection and remanded the matter for reconsideration. However, the application remained unresolved, prompting the current writ petition.

• Counselvise Citation: [2026] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 842676 (HC-CHENNAI)
• Appeal Type: Others
• Pronouncement Date: 26-02-2026
• Assessment Year: misc
• Other Referred Cases: W.P.(MD).NO.5159 of 2025
• Laws Referred To: Article 226 of the Constitution of India, Income Tax Act
• Result in Favour of: Others
• Court: HIGH COURT
• Department Lawyers: J PAREKHKUMAR
• Assessee Lawyers: A LAKSHMI
• Keywords: Assessment year 2020-2021; Condone delay; Income Tax Returns; Writ of Mandamus
• Section: 139(1); 119(2)(b)

Judgement Text

"WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT Dated : 26.02.2026 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 Murugesan Senthil ... Petitioner Vs 1. The Secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue of Income Tax (OSD) (OT and WT), Ministry of Finance, Jeevan Vihar Building, New Delhi. 2. The Principle Chief Commission of Income Tax, Tamilnadu and Puducherry, Room No 107, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Chennai 600 034. 4. Office of Income Tax Officer, Ward II, Tuticorin. ... Respondents PRAYER :- Writ Petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying this court to issue a Writ of MANDAMUS directing the 1/6 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Printed from counselvise.com WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 2nd respondent to consider the condone delay application of the petitioner filed under section 119 (2)(b) of the Income Tax Act in the light of the orders passed by this Court in W.P.(MD).NO.5159 of 2025 dated 26.02.2025 on merits and in accordance with law and condone the delay of 62 days in filing the income tax returns by the petitioner for the Assessment year 2020-2021 and treat the returns filed by the petitioner as filed with in time allowed under section 139 (1) of Income Tax Act. For Petitioner : Mrs.A.Lakshmi for M/s.Polax Legal Solutions For Respondents : Mr.J.Parekh Kumar O R D E R This Writ Petition is filed seeking a direction to the 2nd respondent to consider the condone delay application of the petitioner filed under section 119 (2)(b) of the Income Tax Act in the light of the orders passed by this Court in W.P.(MD).No.5159 of 2025 dated 26.02.2025 on merits and in accordance with law and condone the delay of 62 days in filing the income tax returns by the petitioner for the Assessment year 2020-2021 and treat the returns filed by the petitioner as filed with in time allowed under section 139 (1) of Income Tax Act. 2/6 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Printed from counselvise.com WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 2. By consent, this Writ Petition is taken up for final disposal at the admission stage itself. 3. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that initially there is a delay of 62 days in filing the income tax returns for the Assessment year 2020-2021 and he has filed an application to condone the said delay. However, the said application was rejected by the 2nd respondent. Hence, the petitioner has filed a Writ Petition before this Court in W.P.(MD)No.5159 of 2025 and this Court, by order dated 26.02.2025, set aside the order passed by the 2nd respondent and remanded the matter to the 2nd respondent for reconsideration. However, till date, the application for condonation of delay has not been disposed of. Hence, the petitioner has filed this Writ petition. 4. The learned counsel appearing for the respondents seeks time to ascertain whether the application for condonation of delay filed by the petitioner is pending or has been dispose of. 3/6 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Printed from counselvise.com WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 5. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court directs the second respondent to dispose of the application for condonation of delay filed by the petitioner for filing the income tax return for the Assessment Year 2020–2021, if not already disposed of, within a period of eight (8) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. 6. With the above direction, this Writ Petition is disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. 26.02.2026 Index: Yes/No NCC : Yes/No vsm 4/6 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Printed from counselvise.com WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 TO 1. The Secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue of Income Tax (OSD) (OT and WT), Ministry of Finance, Jeevan Vihar Building, New Delhi. 2. The Principle Chief Commission of Income Tax, Tamilnadu and Puducherry, Room No 107, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Chennai 600 034. 4. Office of Income Tax Officer, Ward II, Tuticorin 5/6 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Printed from counselvise.com WP(MD). No.5344 of 2026 KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J. vsm WP(MD) No.5344 of 2026 Date : 26.02.2026 6/6 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Printed from counselvise.com "