Monday, 8 July 2013

Unintentional delay in filing of appeal must be viewed liberally and appeal must be decided on merits rather than on technical counts:

ITAT dismissed assessee’s appeal merely on a technical ground that there was a delay of 883 days in filing the said appeal. The Hon’ble High Court observed that the assessee had instructed the concerned Chartered Accountant to present the appeal but it couldn’t be presented in time on account of oversight of the office boy. Though the affidavit of the office boy was not filed at the time of hearing, the same was filed before the decision of the ITAT. The Hon’ble High Court was of the view that unintentional delay in filing of appeal must be viewed liberally and appeals must be decided on merits rather than on technical aspects. It was held that the ITAT ought to have taken into account the said affidavit and minor discrepancy in the name of office boy should not be fatal to the main cause. Accordingly, the matter was remanded to the ITAT to reconsider the issue after taking into account the affidavit of the office boy.

[MAHENDRA AMBALAL PATEL - TAX APPEAL NO.1584 of 2011 - GHC]

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