Commissioner Of Income Tax(Exemptions v. Vidhya Prachar Mandal

C/TAXAP/256/2018 ORDER IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/TAX APPEAL NO. 256 of 2018 ========================================================== COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX(EXEMPTIONS)VersusVIDHYA PRACHAR MANDAL ========================================================== Appearance: MRS MAUNA M BHATT(174) for the PETITIONER(s) No. 1 for the RESPONDENT(s) No. 1========================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE AKIL KURESHIand HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE B.N. KARIA Date : 02/04/2018 ORAL ORDER (PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE AKIL KURESHI) 1.Revenue is in appeal against the judgment of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal dated 16.10.2017 raising following question for our consideration: “Whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and in law, the Appellate Tribunal was justified in considering it appropriate to enable the assessee to file appeal electronically before the CIT(A) in accordance with law and direct the CIT(A) to admit the aforesaid appeal for its disposal on merits without appreciating the amendment in the Rule 45 of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 ?” 2.Brief facts are as under. 3.Respondent-assessee is a trust registered under the Public Trust Act. Department issued a circular dated 01.03.2016 making it compulsory to file appeals against orders of assessment electronically. Time was granted till 15.05.2016 to do so. To challenge an order of assessment dated 06.02.2016 for the assessent year 2013-14, the assessee filed manual appeal before the Appellate Commissioner on 23.03.2016. By a further circular dated 26.05.2016, time limit for filing E-appeal was extended upto 15.06.2016. Admitted fact is that assessee did not file such E-appeal. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) dismissed such appeal as defective, upon which, the assessee approached the Tribunal. Tribunal directed the assessee to file appeal electronically and then the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) to decide it on merits. This order of the Tribunal is challenged by the Revenue in the present appeal. 4.Counsel for the Revenue submitted that the Tribunal erred in giving benefit to the assessee on the ground that it is a Trust and do not have proper guidance and further that no opportunity was granted to the assessee to replace the appeal by electronic filing. 5.In facts of the present case, we are not inclined to interfere, though the reasonings cited by the Tribunal may not be the same as which appeal to us. The record as noted would show that the assessee filed manual appeal at the time when the time for filing electronic appeal was not yet over. In other words, it is doubtful whether at the time when the assessee filed the appeal, only mode of filing appeal was electronic. Once such an appeal was filed, though manually, the assessee had an opportunity to replace it by filing electronic appeal. The Tribunal has also directed the assessee to do so. This would take care of the Revenue's anxiety that the appeal which is only filed manually, would be decided on merits. In essence, effectively the Tribunal has in particular case, extended the time for removing the defect of not filing the appeal electronically. 6.No question of law arises. Tax Appeal is dismissed. (AKIL KURESHI, J)(B.N. KARIA, J)