Genuine hardship governs condonation of tax filing delay where statutory audit was delayed beyond the assessee's control.

Section 119(2)(b) permits condonation where filing delay arises from genuine hardship and circumstances beyond the assessee's control, and the enquiry must be liberal, justice-oriented, and confined to the relevant assessment years. In the context of cooperative societies seeking deduction under Section 80P, delayed statutory audit and late appointment of auditors may constitute sufficient cause when supported by correspondence and other material. A hyper-technical or pedantic refusal is not justified where the documentary record shows that audit was completed and the hardship was real. On that footing, the delay was treated as liable to be condoned and the returns with audit reports could be filed.

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Issues: Whether the refusal to condone the delay under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, for filing returns with audit reports for Assessment Years 2018-19 to 2022-23 was justified in the facts of the case.

Analysis: The petitioner, a co-operative society, was required to have its accounts audited under the Odisha Cooperative Societies Act, 1962, before filing returns claiming deduction under Section 80P of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The delay in filing was shown to have arisen from the non-availability and late appointment of auditors by the statutory cooperative audit machinery, a circumstance supported by correspondence and undisputed material. The Board's circular and the Ministry of Cooperation's communication recognized such hardship for cooperative societies and directed that applications for condonation be decided on merits. The relevant enquiry for Section 119(2)(b) had to be confined to the assessment years in question, and the authority was required to assess whether the delay was due to circumstances beyond the assessee's control and whether genuine hardship existed. The impugned order was found to have proceeded on a pedantic and overly restrictive view by relying on past events and by not appreciating the documentary record and the admitted completion of audit on 25.01.2024.

Conclusion: The refusal to condone the delay was unsustainable, and the petitioner was entitled to have the delay condoned and to file the returns with audit reports.

Ratio Decidendi: An application under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 must be decided on a liberal, justice-oriented assessment of genuine hardship and sufficient cause, and delay caused by circumstances beyond the assessee's control cannot be rejected on a hyper-technical or pedantic approach.

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