Gujarat High Court

Sumati Lokendra Patel vs Commissioner Of Income Tax (It And Tp), ... on 6 October, 2025

Author: Bhargav D. Karia

Bench: Bhargav D. Karia

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                          C/SCA/11337/2025                                         JUDGMENT DATED: 06/10/2025

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                                   IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

                                    R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 11337 of 2025


                      FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:


                      HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA

                      and
                      HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI
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                                  Approved for Reporting                          Yes           No
                                                                                                 √
                      ==========================================================
                                         SUMATI LOKENDRA PATEL
                                                  Versus
                          COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (IT AND TP), AHMEDABAD & ANR.
                      ==========================================================
                      Appearance:
                      VIJAY H PATEL(7361) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
                      MR.VARUN K.PATEL(3802) for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2
                      NOTICE SERVED for the Respondent(s) No. 1,2
                      ==========================================================

                          CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BHARGAV D. KARIA
                                and
                                HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI

                                                              Date : 06/10/2025

                                            ORAL JUDGMENT

(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANAV TRIVEDI)

1 Heard learned advocate Mr.Vijay Patel for the

petitioner and learned Senior Standing Counsel Mr.

Varun Patel for the respondent.

2 Rule returnable forthwith. Learned Senior

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Standing Counsel Mr.Varun Patel, waives service of

notice of rule for and on behalf of the respondent.

Having regard to the controversy involved in this

petition, with the consent of the learned advocates for

the respective parties, the matter is taken up for final

hearing.

3 By this petition under Articles 226/227 of the

Constitution of India, the petitioner prays for

quashing and setting aside the order dated

16.06.2025 passed under Sec.119(2)(b) of the Income

Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' for

short) for the Assessment Year 2021-22.

4 The brief facts leading to filing of the present

writ petition are as under:

4.1 The petitioner is an individual and a Non-

Resident Indian (N.R.I) residing permanently in

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Nairobi since the year 1965. During the Assessment

Year 2021-22, the petitioner had sold the residential

plot No.79 at Gulmohar Residential Enclave on

21.05.2020. The plot was jointly owned by the

petitioner and her husband. The consideration for

sale of the plot was Rs.1,12,87,500/-. It was during

this year that the petitioner earned income by way of

long term capital gain and also by way of interest.

4.2 It is the case of the petitioner that the purchaser

of the property deducted tax at source of

Rs.12,91,290/- from the amount of consideration and

deposited the same with the Income Tax Department

on 31.03.2020 and also filed the TDS return.

4.3 It is the case of the petitioner that the tax

deducted at source is reflected in Form 26AS in the

Assessment Year 2020-21 instead of Assessment Year

2021-22.

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4.4 It is further the case of the petitioner that the

transactions took place on 21.05.2020 and the

petitioner left India on 23.06.2020. That was the

COVID period and due to travel restrictions, the

petitioner could not visit India for the purpose of

filing of Return of Income. It was under these

circumstances that the petitioner was unable to file

original Return of Income for the Assessment Year

2021-22 within due date as prescribed under

Sec.139(5) of the Act.

4.5 It was in this context that the petitioner

preferred an application under Sec.119(2)(b) of the

Act praying for condoning the delay caused in filing of

Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22.

The application was filed on 28.11.2024. During the

course of hearing, the respondent issued notice to file

written submission as well as an opportunity of

personal hearing was granted to the petitioner. The

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petitioner filed its reply on 24.12.2024. However, by

way of order dated 16.06.2025, the application of the

petitioner came to be rejected which is now impugned

in the present writ petition.

5 Mr.Vijay Patel, learned advocate for the

petitioner has submitted that there was genuine

hardship on the part of the petitioner, and therefore,

the impugned order dated 16.06.2025 is perverse.

The case of the petitioner clearly falls within the

ambit of four corners of Sec.119 of the Act. The

petitioner could not file her Return of Income due to

genuine hardship caused by COVID-19 pandemic.

Even this Court, in catena of decisions has allowed

the application preferred by the assessee under

Sec.119(2)(b) of the Act which were related to filing

of Return of Income during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In wake of such submissions, Mr.Patel, learned

advocate for the petitioner, has requested to allow the

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present writ petition.

6 Per Contra, Mr.Varun Patel learned Senior

Standing Counsel for the respondent, would

controvert the fact that the issue has arisen during

the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was contended

that the impugned order is passed in accordance with

the jurisdiction vested under Sec.119(2)(b) of the Act.

It was submitted by Mr.Patel, learned Senior

Standing Counsel that the petitioner is not able to

prove genuine hardship and that inconvenience

cannot be equated with genuine hardship.

6.1 It was further submitted that during the

pandemic, the government had already provided

several statutory relaxations and extension of

deadlines during that period. However, the

application under Sec.119(2)(b) is only filed by the

petitioner in the year 2024. Therefore, the impugned

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order passed by the authority is just and proper.

7 Having heard the learned advocates appearing

for the respective parties and having perused the

materials on record, it is not in dispute that the

petitioner is a Non Resident Indian staying in Nairobi

and was genuinely prevented from filing the return in

COVID-19 pandemic. The respondent ought to have

condoned the delay in filing the Return of Income for

the Assessment Year 2020-21 as that was the period

of genuine COVID hardships. It is also not in dispute

that the petitioner has furnished computation of

income along with reply. It is also not in dispute that

the purchaser of the property has deposited the TDS

which is also reflected in Form 26AS. Therefore, the

application preferred by the applicant could not have

been rejected.

7.1 In similar circumstances, this Court, in the case

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of Yogesh Rasiklal Chandrani vs. Commissioner

of Income-tax IT & TP., reported in [2025] 173

taxmann.com 660 (Gujarat), has made the

following observations:

"14. Considering the submissions made by the learned advocates for both the sides and in view of the fact that the petitioner is a non-resident staying at USA was genuinely prevented from filing the return in view of Covid-19 pandemic situation, the respondent ought to have condoned the delay in filing the return for Assessment Year 2020-21. It is also not in dispute that the petitioner has furnished computation of income along with computation of long-term capital gain along with reply dated 17.01.2023 filed in response to the notice dated 10.01.2021 issued by the respondent which is placed on record.

15. On perusal of the Form 26 AS for AY 2020- 21, it is also found that the purchaser of the property namely M/s. Ashutosh Builders deposited the amount of TDS which was deducted at the time of purchase in the year 2019 only on 11.06.2022. Therefore, the petitioner was not able to file the return for Assessment Year 2020-21 claiming the refund in view of late deposit of TDS by the purchaser of the property.

16. In view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, the impugned order dated 03.03.2023 passed under section 119(2)(b)

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of the Act is not tenable and is accordingly quashed and set aside and delay in filing the return of income for A.Y.2020-21 is required to be condoned to permit the petitioner to file return of income for Assessment Year 20202021 belatedly claiming the refund of Rs.5,07,790/- as per the computation of income placed on record at Annexure-F of the paper book. The respondent is therefore directed to pas a fresh de novo order condoning the delay in filing the return of income for A.Y. 2020-21 by the petitioner within twelve (12) weeks from the date of receipt of copy of this order."

8 In view of the same, the impugned order dated

16.06.2025 passed under Sec.119(2)(b) of the Act is

not tenable and is accordingly quashed and set aside

and the delay caused in filing Return of Income for

the Assessment Year 2020-21 is required to be

condoned and the petitioner is permitted to file the

Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2020-21.

The respondent is also directed to pass a fresh de

novo order condoning the delay in filing the Return of

Income for the Assessment Year 2020-21 by the

petitioner within twelve (12) weeks from the date of

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