SUBBARAYALU KANNAN RAJAGOPAL,CHENNAI V. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX ( APPEALS), CHENNAI

ITA 477/CHNY/2025

AI Insights

The case involves an appeal by Shri Subbarayalu Kannan Rajagopal against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre, Delhi, which was passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the Assessment Year 2019-20. The primary issue was the delay in filing the appeal, which was initially dismissed by the FAA due to the delay not being condoned. The assessee, a French citizen, faced difficulties due to lack of legal representation in India and technical failures that led to the loss of crucial information needed for the appeal. The Tribunal found sufficient reason to condone the delay and directed the FAA to reconsider the appeal on its merits.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 653048 (ITAT-CHENNAI)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 18-06-2025
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: A
• Assessment Year: 2019-2020
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act, 1961
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: KUMAR CHANDAN
• Assessee Lawyers: ARJUN RAJ
• Keywords: Condonation of delay; Set aside; Reasonable cause

Judgement Text

"आयकर अपीलȣय अͬधकरण, ‘ए’ Ûयायपीठ, चेÛनई IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL ‘A’ BENCH, CHENNAI Įी जॉज[ जॉज[ क े, उपाÚय¢ एवं Įी एस.आर.रघुनाथा, लेखा सदèय क े सम¢ BEFORE SHRI GEORGE GEORGE K, VICE PRESIDENTAND SHRI S.R. RAGHUNATHA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER आयकर अपील सं./ITA No.: 477/CHNY/2025 िनधाᭅरण वषᭅ/Assessment Year:2019-20 Shri Subbarayalu Kannan Rajagopal, No.3, Plot No.42, Sri Dhanalakshmi Subbaraya, Rajeswari Nagar First Main, Karambakkam, Porur, Chennai – 600 116. PAN: DTIPR 0719H Vs. The Income Tax Officer, Non-Corporate Ward 8(2), Chennai (अपीलाथᱮ/Appellant) (ᮧ᭜यथᱮ/Respondent) अपीलाथᱮ कᳱ ओर से/Appellant by : Shri Arjun Raj, Advocate ᮧ᭜यथᱮ कᳱ ओर से/Respondent by : Shri Kumar Chandan, JCIT सुनवाई कᳱ तारीख/Date of Hearing : 17.06.2025 घोषणा कᳱ तारीख/Date of Pronouncement : 18.06.2025 आदेश /O R D E R PER GEORGE GEORGE K, VICE PRESIDENT: This appeal filed at the instance of the assessee is directed against the order of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi dated 07.08.2024, passed under section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter called ‘the Act’). The relevant Assessment Year is 2019-20. - 2 - ITA No.477/CHNY/2025 2. There is a delay of 109 days in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. The assessee has filed petition for condonation of delay stating therein the reasons for belated filing of this appeal. The reason stated in the petition for belated filing is that the assessee is a French Citizen and does not have any legal representative in India to guide on the legal procedures and the assessee was unaware of the legal steps required to be taken for filing the appeal. Therefore, the appeal could not be filed within the prescribed time. On perusal of the same, we find there is sufficient reason for delay in filing this appeal before the Tribunal. Hence, we condone the delay in filing the appeal and proceed to dispose off the appeal on merits. 3. At the very outset, we notice that First Appellate Authority (FAA) had dismissed the appeal of the assessee in limine without adjudicating on merits. The CIT(A) held that there is a delay in filing the appeal before him and there is no reasonable cause for condoning the same. 4. On perusing the order of the FAA, we noted that the assessee had filed application for condonation of delay of 15 days. However, the FAA rejected the assessee’s request for condonation and dismissed the appeal of the assessee. The reason stated by the - 3 - ITA No.477/CHNY/2025 assessee is reiterated in the FAA’s order at para 2 which reads as under:- \"Post receipt of the order the assessee was to file the appeal within the stipulated time. However due to technical failure on the side of the authorised representative the whole information viz, tally backup, earlier submissions at the time of assessment and other relevant information were unfortunately deleted or lost. In such circumstances the assessee was severely constrained to get the information in place and was successful only partially and hence was not able to file the appeal on time. We pray that this being a one time event which has happened beyond the control of the assessee, the same may be pardoned and the assessee be given an opportunity for the appeal to render justice.” In our view, since the delay is not being inordinate and in the interest of justice, we condone the delay before FAA and also direct him to admit the issue on merits. Therefore, we set aside the order of FAA and remit the matter back to his file for adjudicating the issue on merits. It is ordered accordingly. 5. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced in the open court on 18th June, 2025 at Chennai. Sd/- Sd/- (एस.आर. रघुनाथा) (S.R. RAGHUNATHA) लेखा सदèय/ACCOUNTANT MEMBER (जॉज[ जॉज[ क े) (GEORGE GEORGE K) उपाÚय¢ /VICE PRESIDENT चेÛनई/Chennai, Ǒदनांक/Dated, the 18th June, 2025 - 4 - ITA No.477/CHNY/2025 RSR आदेश कȧ ĤǓतͧलͪप अĒेͪषत/Copy to: 1. अपीलाथȸ/Appellant 2. Ĥ×यथȸ/Respondent 3. आयकर आयुÈत /CIT, Chennai 4. ͪवभागीय ĤǓतǓनͬध/DR 5. गाड[ फाईल/GF. "