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Judgment
PER SANJAY AWASTHI, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER:
This appeal arises from order dated 19.03.2024, passed u/s 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereafter as “the Act”), by Addl./JCIT(Appeals)-Indore. The ITAT Registry has reported a delay of 580 days in the filing of this appeal, which has been requested to be condoned as under:
“MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1.That the appellant has preferred the accompanying appeal against the order dated 19.03.2024 passed by the Ld. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Indore, under section 250 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
2.That in terms of section 253(3) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the prescribed limitation period for filing an appeal before this Hon'ble Tribunal is 60 days from the date of communication of the impugned order.
3.That the present appeal has been filed beyond the prescribed period of limitation, resulting in an unintentional delay.
4.That the delay occurred due to bona fide and unavoidable circumstances, inasmuch as the assessee Shri Vedi unfortunately expired on 07.08.2024, and therefore he could not take further steps to pursue the matter.
5.That during his lifetime, the deceased assessee was solely looking after all taxation, legal proceedings, documentation, and compliances. After his sudden demise, the responsibility of pursuing the case fell upon his widow, who is now filing the present appeal as his legal heir.
6.That the wife of the deceased assessee had no prior knowledge or understanding of income tax litigation or appellate procedures and was completely unaware of the technical requirements and limitation period for filing an appeal before the Hon'ble ITAT.
7.That after the death of her husband, the legal heir took reasonable time to cope with the distressing circumstances, collect the relevant documents, understand the pending proceedings, complete necessary paperwork, and engage appropriate professionals and legal experts for proper guidance.
8.That the delay is neither intentional nor deliberate, and there has been no negligence, inaction, or lack of bona fides on the part of the legal heir. The appellant has acted diligently and in good faith at all material times.
9.That non-condonation of the delay would result in grave and irreparable hardship to the appellant’s widow by denying adjudication on merits, whereas no prejudice whatsoever would be caused to the Revenue if the delay is condoned.
10.That well-settled principle of law that the expression "sufficient cause" appearing in section 253(5) of the Act is to be construed liberally so that technicalities should not advance substantial justice, and allowed to defeat legitimate rights, especially when the matter deserves adjudication on merits.
PRAYER
In view of the facts and circumstances stated hereinabove, the appellant most respectfully prays that this Hon'ble Tribunal may be pleased to:
a)Condone the delay in filing the present appeal;
b)Admit the appeal and adjudicate the same on merits; and
c)Pass such other or further order(s) as this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the interest of justice.
Place: New Delhi
Date: 31.01.2026”
Considering the reasons given in the said petition, the delay is hereby condoned and the appeal is admitted for adjudication.
It is seen from the records that both the orders of authorities below have been passed in an ex parte manner. On the last date of hearing, none attended on behalf of the assessee but it was decided to proceed ahead with the adjudication with the help of Ld. DR.
The assessee has approached the ITAT with the following grounds of appeal: -
“1.Assessee was farmer and depend on agriculture produce for his livelihood and he was patient of Diabetes who took insulin to survive. However, his health was not in the condition that he continues his agriculture, he was only bread earner for his family.
2.Therefore he had no option other than selling of his agriculture land for survival of him and his family back in year 2011-12. So he sold his land and deposited the amount received to his saving bank account with State Bank of India, account no. 65058503152. The amount deposited in the same sequence buyer has paid to assesse.
3.However Assessee died in Year 2024 due to his illness and his legal heir his wife is an illiterate woman who doesn't have any idea of the case against her spouse. She doesn't even have income tax ID. Therefore it is being delayed in filing the appeal to ITAT against the order of CIT.
4.The CIT appeal has made erroneous inclusion of cash deposit as an income of assessee under section 69A ignoring the explanation given by assessee and without considering the circumstances at the time sale of this land.
5.The learned AO failed to consider that the appellant had not earned any income, and all transactions are duly supported by Bank.
6.The addition made under section 69A is arbitrary, unjustified, and without application of his mind, and liable to be deleted.
PRAYER
Delete the addition of Rs.1,13,02,491.00 made under section 69A of Income tax act, 1961. Grant the relief that this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”
Before us the Ld. DR took us through the orders of authorities below and stated that it was not known whether the assessee passed away before or after the passing of the impugned order (dated 19.03.2024). It was further mentioned by the Ld. DR that both the authorities below only had a bare minimum of information available with them and on the basis of that only, in the absence of any response from the assessee’s side, adverse orders have been passed.
We have carefully considered the submissions of Ld. DR and have gone through the records before us. From a reading of the grounds and the fact that the Form 36 has been filed in the name of “Late Vedi” it is clear that the assessee is no more. Accordingly, we are not inclined to proceed ahead with the adjudication when there is a significant absence of fact finding due to the non-compliance by the late assessee. In light of this fact, the impugned order is set aside and the matter is remanded to the file of Ld. AO for fresh assessment. The Ld. AO is directed to bring the legal heirs on record and thereafter allow an opportunity for presenting relevant documents so that the correct income of the assessee can be determined. We direct accordingly.
In the result, appeal is allowed for statistical purposes.