Orissa High Court
Silicon Institute Of Technology vs Commissioner Of Income Tax on 4 February, 2025
Author: Arindam Sinha
Bench: Arindam Sinha, M.S. Sahoo
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
W.P.(C) No. 2555 of 2025
Silicon Institute of Technology, BBSR .... Petitioner
-Versus-
Commissioner of Income Tax, Aayakar .... Opposite Parties
Bhavan, Hyderabad, Telangana and
another
Advocates appeared in this case:
For Petitioner : Mr. S.S. Padhy, Advocate
For Opposite Parties : Mr. A. Kedia, Junior Standing Counsel
CORAM:
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARINDAM SINHA,
ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
AND
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.S. SAHOO
JUDGMENT
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Date of hearing and judgment: 4th February, 2025
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ARINDAM SINHA, ACJ.
1. Mr. Padhi, learned advocate appears on behalf of petitioner and
submits, his client is a trust duly registered under the provisions in
Income Tax Act, 1961. It is exempted from paying income tax. It is
required to file audit report.
2. His client was late by 1 hour, 19 minutes and 16 seconds in
uploading the audit report. It was not accepted as application for
condonation of delay stood rejected by impugned order dated 4 th
December, 2024 made by the authority. He draws attention to the order
and submits, purported reason given is, on verification it was noticed
that reasons mentioned for delay are not sufficient and it was not a fit
case for condoning delay in exercise of power under section 119 (2) (b)
of the Act read with provisions of circular dated 9 th June, 2015 issued
by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He seeks interference.
3. Mr. Kedia, learned advocate, Junior Standing Counsel appears on
behalf of revenue. He prays for adjournment to obtain instruction.
4. The authority considered reason given by petitioner for the delay
to be mere asking on the basis of vague assertion without proof.
Required proof, therefore, is reason for technical glitch causing delay in
uploading the report. The delay is of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 16
seconds. The report stood uploaded beyond midnight of the last date, at
1:19 and 16 seconds in the following morning of 1st November, 2023.
WPC no.2555 of 2025
5. The authority, in impugned order, relied upon view taken by the
Delhi High Court in the case of M/s. BU. Bhandari Nandgude Patil
Associates [W.P.(C) no. 6537 of 2017], inter alia on the passage
reproduced below.
"Statutory time limits fixed have to be adhered to as
it ensures timely completion of assessments. Discipline
on regarding filing of returns have to be complied and
respected, time limits unless compelling and good
reasons are shown and established for grant of
extension of time. Extension of time cannot be claimed
as a vested right on mere asking and on the basis of
vague assertions without proof."
6. We appreciate petitioner may have been very close to the
deadline in attempting to upload the report. It may have been a
situation, where the pressure of meeting the timeline expiring in a few
hours or minutes, there may have been mistakes made in uploading,
attributed by petitioner as technical glitch. Even assuming such was the
case, the report stood uploaded beyond midnight of the last date by 1
hour, 19 minutes and 16 seconds. There has to be pragmatic approach
in exercising power to enlarge time. Here the time overrun over is a
little more than an hour, on the report uploaded in the wee hours of the
WPC no.2555 of 2025
next day, 1st November, 2023. We cannot imagine the delay would have
hampered work of revenue in dealing with the report.
7. For reasons aforesaid, it is clear to us that impugned order is
perverse. As such we have dealt with the writ petition without granting
adjournment.
8. Impugned order is set aside and quashed. The report filed in
Form 10B be considered as compliance by petitioner.
9. The writ petition is disposed of.
( Arindam Sinha )
Acting Chief Justice
( M.S. Sahoo )
Judge
Arun Mishra
Designation: ADR-Cum-Addl. Principal Secretary
Location: High Court of Orissa, Cuttack
WPC no.2555 of 2025
