2024 (9) TMI 585

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....ed by Principal Commissioner of Income-tax, Mumbai (PCIT), whereby the application filed by the petitioners under section 119 (2) (b) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 praying for condonation of delay in filing the return of income has been rejected. 2. The petitioners in all these petitions are members of one family. Their accounts as also all issues in relation to their income-tax returns were handled by a Chartered Accountant, who could not take timely steps on account of ill health of his spouse. For such reason, the returns of the petitioners could not be filed within the stipulated time. 3. The petitioners have contended that they were fully dependent on the Chartered Accountant in all respects from the finalization of the accounts as....

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....6. In our opinion, the approach of PCIT appears to be quite mechanical, who ought to have been more sensitive to the cause which was brought before him when the petitioner prayed for condonation of delay. In such context, we may observe that it can never be that technicalities and rigidity of rules of law would not recognize genuine human problems of such nature, which may prevent a person from achieving such compliances. It is to cater to such situations the legislature has made a provision conferring a power to condone delay. These are all human issues and which may prevent the assessee who is otherwise diligent in filing returns, within the prescribed time. We may also observe that the PCIT is not consistent in the reasons when the cause....

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....s. Such human factors necessarily require a due consideration when it comes to compliances of the time limits even under the Income Tax Act. The situation in hand is akin to what a Court would consider in legal proceedings before it, in condoning delay in filing of proceedings. In dealing with such situations, the Courts would not discard an empathetic /humane view of the matter in condoning the delay in filing legal proceedings, when law confers powers to condone the delay in the litigant pursuing Court proceedings. This of course on testing the bona fides of such plea as may be urged. In our opinion, such principles which are quite paramount and jurisprudentially accepted are certainly applicable, when the assessee seeks condonation of de....