Facts of the Case

The assessee, Aroti Ghosh, preferred an appeal before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal against the order passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), NFAC, for Assessment Year 2008-09.
The CIT(A) dismissed the appeal in limine on the ground that there was a delay of 74 days in filing the appeal electronically and that no application for condonation of delay was filed. The CIT(A) also noted discrepancies in the challan particulars of the appeal filing fee.
The assessee contended that the appeal had already been filed manually in Form No. 35 on 26.04.2016 within the prescribed limitation period, along with payment of appeal fees, and that the electronic filing was done subsequently in compliance with the procedural notification.

 

Issues Involved

  1. Whether an appeal filed manually within the statutory limitation period can be dismissed merely due to delay in subsequent electronic filing.
  2. Whether dismissal of appeal without considering a valid manual filing violates principles of natural justice.

 

Petitioner’s Arguments

The assessee submitted that the appeal was duly filed manually in Form No. 35 within 30 days of service of notice of demand and that the requisite appeal fee had already been deposited.
It was argued that electronic filing was done later only to comply with the procedural requirement introduced by notification dated 01.03.2016 and that the CIT(A) erred in ignoring the manually filed appeal. The assessee sought restoration of the matter for fresh adjudication.

 

Respondent’s Arguments

The Department did not raise any serious objection to the submissions made on behalf of the assessee and fairly agreed that the matter could be restored to the file of the CIT(A) for reconsideration.

 

Court Order / Findings

The Tribunal observed that the assessee had indeed filed the appeal manually in Form No. 35 on 26.04.2016 within the prescribed time limit, which fact escaped the attention of the CIT(A).
The Tribunal noted that the CIT(A) considered only the electronically filed appeal dated 14.12.2016 and ignored the earlier valid manual filing. Accordingly, the order of the CIT(A) was set aside and the matter was restored with a direction to pass a de novo order in accordance with law after providing reasonable opportunity to the assessee and after considering the manually filed appeal.

 

Important Clarification

The Tribunal reaffirmed that procedural requirements, including electronic filing, cannot defeat substantive rights when an appeal has already been validly filed within limitation. Ignoring a timely manual appeal and dismissing the matter on technical grounds was held to be contrary to the principles of natural justice.

Link to download the order -  https://www.mytaxexpert.co.in/uploads/1770875477_AROTIGHOSHALLAHABADVS.INCOMETAXOFFICERWARD11ALLAHABAD.pdf  

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