The division judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court held that if the appeal memo does not contain application of delay condonation and not filed at the time of filing of the same, then even subsequent filing of the application for condonation of delay cannot cure the defect,
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the appeal was filed in the year 2020 without any application for the condonation of delay. The present appeal has been filed in order to quash the order passed by the Judicial Member and Accountant Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Ranchi Bench, Ranchi in the appeal for different assessment years.
Contentions of the Respondent
The Respondent contended that the appeal should be filed with the condonation of delay application and by the time the appeal was preferred, it was known to the appellant that the appeal was barred by delay. It was furthermore contended that even though the time was granted by the court to cure the defects pointed out by the Stamp Reporter, however, no steps were taken by the learned counsel for the Revenue to take steps for condonation of delay. Therefore, the appeal should be rejected.
Observations of the Court
The Hon’ble Court observed that the appellant was given time to take action and file applications for a condonation of delay; but, despite this chance, the appellant has been callous in not taking action and has not filed the necessary application in each appeal memo.
The court furthermore observed that it is well settled law that the appeal memo does not contain application of delay condonation and not filed at the time of filing of the same, then even subsequent filing of the application for condonation of delay cannot cure the defect.
The court noted that if the Department is so conscious about the fact that the issue of tax is involved, in that case, filing a defective appeal and not taking steps for filing condonation of delay application, shifts the responsibility upon the Revenue also.
Based on these considerations, the court refused to grant any further time.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court dismissed all the appeals.
Case Title: The Principal Commissioner of Income Tax V. Tripta Sharma
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Chief Justice Dr. B.R. Sarangi, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad
Case No.: Tax Appeal No. 14 of 2020 With I.A. No.698 of 2021
Advocates for the Appellant: Mr. Anurag Vijay, Advocate Mr. Om Prakash, Advocate
Advocates for the Respondent: Mr. Mahendra Choudhary, Advocate Mr. Piyush Poddar, Advocate Mr. Devesh Poddar, Advocate Mr. Manav Poddar, Advocate
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