Sufficient cause for delay condonation may be established by medical incapacity and bona fide reliance on treatment advice.

Medical evidence showing low blood pressure and inability to move during the limitation period constituted sufficient cause for condonation of delay, because acting on medical advice and remaining immobile reflected bona fide conduct and good faith. The revisional authority erred by treating the illness as insufficient merely because it did not disable the assessee from attending to normal duties, and the delay in filing the appeal was therefore liable to be condoned in favour of the assessee.

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Issues: Whether the assessee had shown sufficient cause under Section 5 of the Limitation Act for condonation of the delay in filing the appeal.

Analysis: The appeal had been filed beyond limitation after the assessee produced a medical certificate showing low blood pressure and inability to move during the relevant period. The certificate was not disbelieved. The revisional authority's approach that the illness did not disable the assessee from attending to normal duties was held to be an erroneous understanding of "sufficient cause". Acting on medical advice and remaining immobile during the relevant period constituted bona fide conduct and good faith.

Conclusion: Sufficient cause existed for condoning the delay, and the delay in filing the appeal was liable to be condoned in favour of the assessee.

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