Reasonable cause for advance tax default accepted where the karta's serious illness explained non-filing of the estimate.

An HUF was found to have reasonable cause for not filing an advance tax estimate where the karta was seriously ill and later died, and no material discredited that explanation. The factual record did not support a finding that the karta was able to attend to the assessee's income-tax affairs, so the omission was not treated as wilful or unexplained. On that basis, penalty under section 273(c) was held not justified.

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Issues: Whether the assessee-HUF had reasonable cause for not filing an estimate of advance tax under section 212(3A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, so as to escape penalty under section 273(c) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The explanation that the karta was seriously ill at the material time and later died was accepted. No material was shown to discredit the plea of illness or to justify the conclusion that the karta was able to attend to the assessee's income-tax affairs. On the facts, the default in filing the estimate was not treated as a wilful or unexplained omission.

Conclusion: The failure to file the advance tax estimate was with reasonable cause, and the penalty under section 273(c) was not justified.

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