Principal Commissioner Of Income Tax – 5, Kolkata v. Before

ORDER IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTASPECIAL JURISDICTION (INCOME TAX)ORIGINAL SIDE OD – 6 ITAT/190/2022IA NO: GA/1/2022GA/2/2022GA/3/2023GA/4/2023 PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX – 5, KOLKATAVERSUSSMT. RUPAL DHUPELIA BEFORE: The Hon'ble Justice SURYA PRAKASH KESARWANI The Hon'ble Justice RAJARSHI BHARADWAJ Date : 4[th] December 2023. Appearance: Mr. Tilak Mitra, Advocate… for appellant.Ms. Debashri Mukherjee, Advocate… for respondent. Order on delay condonation application [IA GA No.1 of 2022] 1. Heard learned senior standing counsel for the Income Tax Department /appellant as applicant and learned counsel for the respondent/assesseeon delay condonation application being IA GA No.1 of 2022. 2. This appeal has been filed beyond limitation by 594 days with delaycondonation application. As per the aforesaid delay condonationapplication, the impugned order is dated 15.06.2020 which was received on 09.09.2020 and the appeal was filed on 24.08.2022 i.e. beyondlimitation by 594 days. 3.Apart from other explanations, the appellant/applicant has offeredexplanation in paragraph 10 of the application that the period from15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 is liable to be condoned in view of the order ofHon'ble Supreme Court in Suo Moto Writ Petition (C) No.3 of 2020 in Re:cognizance for extension of limitation with miscellaneous ApplicationNo.29 of 2022 in Miscellaneous Application No.665 of 2021 in Suo MotoWrit Petition (C) No.3 of 2020. Thus, according to theappellant/applicant, the period from 15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 is liable tobe excluded for the purposes of limitation. For the rest of the period, theappellant/applicant has offered explanation in paragraph 13 of theapplication as under:- “13. The soft copies of appeal documents drafted by the LearnedAdvocate and forwarded by the Jr. Central Govt. Advocate,Ministry of Law and Justice were forwarded to the Assessingofficer on 09.02.2022 for vetting and corrections and submittingthe same through the office of the Range Head to the office of Pr.Commissioner of Income Tax-5, Kolkata. The vetted documentswere received in the office of the Pr. Commissioner of IncomeTax-5, Kolkata on 18.08.2022.”Advocate and forwarded by the Jr. Central Govt. Advocate,Ministry of Law and Justice were forwarded to the Assessingofficer on 09.02.2022 for vetting and corrections and submittingthe same through the office of the Range Head to the office of Pr.Commissioner of Income Tax-5, Kolkata. The vetted documentswere received in the office of the Pr. Commissioner of IncomeTax-5, Kolkata on 18.08.2022.” 4.No explanation has been offered by the appellant/applicant for delay forthe period from 09.02.2022 to 18.08.2022 except in paragraph 13 afore-the period from 09.02.2022 to 18.08.2022 except in paragraph 13 afore- quoted. Thus, no explanation for delay in filing the appeal for the periodfrom 28.02.2022 to 18.08.2022 has been offered by theappellant/applicant. 5.Under such circumstances, in the absence of any explanation for delay forabout 6 months, the delay cannot be condoned. Consequently, the delaycondonation application being IA GA No.1 of 2022 deserves to be rejectedand is hereby rejected.about 6 months, the delay cannot be condoned. Consequently, the delaycondonation application being IA GA No.1 of 2022 deserves to be rejectedand is hereby rejected. Order on Appeal 6.In view of rejection of the delay condonation application being IA GA No.1of 2022, the appeal also stands dismissed.of 2022, the appeal also stands dismissed. 7.All pending applications stand disposed of. (SURYA PRAKASH KESARWANI, J.) S. Kumar (RAJARSHI BHARADWAJ, J.)