Genuine hardship exception under income-tax law requires authorities to consider delayed claims on merits, not reject them mechanically.

Where the Income-tax Act empowers the Board to admit a delayed claim or application to avoid genuine hardship, the authority must consider that enabling power on the facts rather than reject the matter mechanically on limitation alone. Section 119(2)(b) permits consideration of a time-barred claim on merits if such relief is desirable or expedient for avoiding genuine hardship, and the provision must be applied before treating the request as non-entertainable. The rejection was quashed and the matter remitted for fresh consideration under the hardship-relief power.

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Issues: Whether the Board could entertain and decide on merits an application or claim filed beyond the prescribed period where genuine hardship was shown under section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The appeal arose from rejection of a delayed application on the footing that no power existed to condone delay. The statutory framework under section 119(2)(b) authorises the Board, as an income-tax authority, to permit consideration of an application or claim after expiry of the prescribed period if such course is desirable or expedient for avoiding genuine hardship, and to have the matter dealt with on merits in accordance with law. The Board had not applied this enabling provision while rejecting the matter solely on limitation.

Conclusion: The Board was not justified in rejecting the matter as non-entertainable without considering section 119(2)(b), and the assessee's request could be considered on merits if a case of genuine hardship was made out.

Final Conclusion: The impugned rejection was quashed, the matter was sent back to the Board for fresh consideration under the statutory hardship-relief power, and the appeal succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the statute confers power to admit a delayed claim or application to avoid genuine hardship, the authority must consider and exercise that power on relevant facts instead of rejecting the matter mechanically on limitation alone.

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