Appeals Filed Without Delay Condonation Applications Cannot Be Rectified Later: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court has ruled that if an appeal memo does not contain an application for the condonation of delay at the time of its filing, subsequent filing of such an application cannot cure the defect.

The appeal, filed in 2020, sought to quash the order passed by the Judicial Member and Accountant Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Ranchi Bench, for different assessment years. However, it was filed without any application for the condonation of delay.

The respondent argued that the appeal should have been filed with the condonation of delay application. They contended that by the time the appeal was preferred, the appellant knew it was barred by delay. Despite the court granting time to address the defects pointed out by the Stamp Reporter, the counsel for the Revenue did not take steps to file the necessary application for condonation of delay. Therefore, they argued, the appeal should be rejected.

The division bench of Chief justice Dr. B.R. Sarangi and Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad observed that the appellant had been given ample opportunity to take action and file the required applications for condonation of delay but failed to do so. It reiterated the well-settled law that an appeal memo without a delay condonation application at the time of filing cannot be rectified by a subsequent application.

The court noted that the Revenue's responsibility is further highlighted when a defective appeal is filed without the necessary steps for condonation of delay, especially when tax issues are involved.

Based on these considerations, the court refused to grant any further time and dismissed all the appeals.

Case Title: The Principal Commissioner of Income Tax V. Tripta Sharma

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 135

Click Here To Read Judgement