Condonation of delayed return filing allowed where refusal would defeat Section 80-P relief and the lapse was procedural.

Condonation of delay in filing the income-tax return was allowed where the assessee, a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society, had filed the return after the due date and after notice under Section 148, but refusal to condone would have defeated the benefit of Section 80-P. The Court treated the default as procedural rather than deliberate and applied the principle that procedure is a handmaid of justice, holding that the strict conditions in CBDT Circular No. 13/2023 did not prevent relief on these facts. The rejection order was set aside, the delay was condoned, and a fresh assessment was directed on the basis of the return filed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the rejection of the application for condonation of delay in filing the return of income for the assessment year 2018-19 was liable to be quashed and the delay condoned.

Analysis: The return was filed long after the statutory due date and after notice under Section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 had been issued. The governing framework under CBDT Circular No. 13/2023 dated 26.07.2023 permits condonation only where the delay is attributable to circumstances beyond the assessee's control supported by appropriate documentary evidence. At the same time, the Court noted that the petitioner is a Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Society and that denial of condonation would result in denial of the benefit of Section 80-P of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The delay was treated as procedural, and the principle that procedure is a handmaid of justice was applied in favour of condonation.

Conclusion: The rejection order was set aside and the delay in filing the return was condoned, with a direction to pass a fresh assessment order on the basis of the return filed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where refusal to condone delayed filing would defeat substantive tax benefits and the default is found to be procedural rather than deliberate, the delay may be condoned in the interests of justice notwithstanding the strict conditions in the applicable CBDT circular.

---