TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (1) TMI 252
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....r passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Rajkot Bench, Rajkot, dated 2nd August 2018 in the I.T.A. No.990/RJT/ 2010 for the Assessment Year 2007-08. 2. In the application seeking condonation of delay, the following averments have been made : "1. This Civil Application is being moved for condonation of delay in filing tax appeal challenging the order dated 02.08.2018 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT for short) in ITA No. 990/Rjt/2010 for the Assessment Year 2007-08. The said order was communicated to the applicant on 17.10.2018. The period of limitation for filing the appeal before this Hon'ble Court under the provisions of Section 260A(2)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is 120 days from the date of comm....
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....lising in tax. After Diwali, the applicant approached an advocate at Ahmedabad in the end of November 2019 who advised that a tax appeal would have to be filed. The officer of the applicant returned to Surendranagar and dispatched the relevant papers at the office of the advocate. The limitation period for filing the tax appeal was over by the time the relevant papers were sent at the office of the advocate for the applicant, and the said tax appeal came to be filed on 22.01.2019. 3. Under the circumstances stated above, the delay of 342 days in filing the said tax appeal is mainly on the ground that the branch manager of the applicant had retired and the advocate of the applicant had passed away. Therefore, there is a good and suf....
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....on of the lame excuse. The reasons given being factually incorrect may not be treated as sufficient ground to condone the delay. 4. It is submitted that the applicant bank is aggrieved by the ex-parte order dated 2.8.2018 in ITA No. 990/RJT/2010, under which the Hon'ble ITAT has rejected the ITA without going into the merits of the matter. The ITAT has observed that despite notice and number of opportunities, no one appeared or sought for an adjournment. 5. Moreover, following observations are made by ITAT in the order dated 2.8.2018: "Before parting it would be appropriate to add that in case the assessce is able to show that their existed a reasonable cause for non-representation on the date of hearing, it w....
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....that the applicant herein is a cooperative bank. The Branch Manager, who at the relevant point of time was looking after the litigation, retired, and a new appointee assumed the charge of the office of the Branch Manager of the bank. He pointed out that one Mr.Rajendra Shah, a practicing Tax Advocate, was engaged to look into and handle the litigation. Mr.Rajendra Shah passed away and this fact did not come to the notice of the bank. 6. Mr.Hemani would submit that in such circumstances, none appeared even before the Tribunal. According to Mr.Hemani, even in such circumstances, the Tribunal ought not to have dismissed the appeal for non-prosecution. The Tribunal was otherwise obliged to consider the appeal on its own merits even in the ab....
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....d in the memorandum of the Tax Appeal. 10. We should not overlook the fact that there has been some lethargy on the part of the bank in pursuing the matter. However, the lethargy is not of such a type that the delay should not be condoned. 11. It appears that the bank filed its return of income on 31 st October 2007 declaring the total income at Rs. 57,28,800=00. The return was processed under Section 143(1) of the Act on 19 th February 2008 assessing the income at Rs. 57,28,800=00. The Assessing Officer recorded his satisfaction based on a remark made in the audit report for the Assessment Year 2006-07 that artificial profit of Rs. 75,05,000=00 was shown and the income thereby had been reduced to that extent in the Assessment Year....