Limitation and bona fide pursuit of Sabka Vishwas scheme justified treating the appeal as within time and remanding on merits.

The appeal limitation question turned on whether time spent pursuing the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 could justify treating the subsequent appeal as in time. As the scheme was invoked promptly before expiry of the appellate period, the record showed diligence and bona fide pursuit of an alternate statutory remedy rather than inaction. A hyper-technical approach to limitation was therefore held unwarranted, and the matter was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) to treat the appeal as within time and decide it on merits.

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Issues: Whether the appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) was liable to be rejected as time-barred, or whether the period spent in pursuing the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 justified treating the appeal as filed within time and warranted a remand for decision on merits.

Analysis: The appeal against the Order-in-Original had been filed after the introduction of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, which contemplated settlement of amounts in arrears where no appeal had been filed before expiry of the appeal period. The scheme was notified before the statutory period for filing appeal had fully expired, and the appellant had promptly pursued the scheme and continued to seek relief under it. The record showed diligence rather than inaction, and the delay was attributable to the bona fide pursuit of an alternate statutory remedy. In such circumstances, a hyper-technical approach to limitation was held to be unwarranted.

Conclusion: The appeal could not be rejected at the threshold on limitation. The matter was remanded to the Commissioner (Appeals) to treat the appeal as within time and decide it on merits, in favour of the assessee.

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