Lawful claims of exemption under tax provisions cannot be denied due to prior incorrect filings, especially when sufficient cause for delay is established.

आदशे / Order

PER VIKRAM SINGH YADAV, AM These are two appeals filed by the Assessee against the respective orders of the Ld. CIT(A) Addl/JCIT(A)-5, Mumbai each dt. 11/06/2024 pertaining to Assessment Year 2018-19 & 2021-22 respectively.

2. Both these appeals were heard together and are being disposed off by this consolidated order.

3. With the consent of both the parties, the appeal in ITA No. 854/Chd/2024 for the A.Y. 2018-19 was taken up for discussion. During the course of hearing, the Ld. AR submitted that the assessee has filed the appeal before the Ld. Addl. CIT against the intimation under section 143(1) dt. 40/03/2020 passed by the CPC, Bangalore and the said appeal has been dismissed by the Ld. Addl. CIT on account of delay in filing the appeal. It was submitted that the reason why the appeal was filed late was for the reason that the intimation order was sent on the email id which belongs to the previous Counsel and he neither informed the assessee nor acted upon the intimation order. Further, due to outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic, the intimation order was not delivered physically to the assessee. In this regard an Affidavit duly executed by the authorized signatory of the assessee society alongwith written application for condonation of delay was submitted before the Ld. Addl. CIT. It was submitted that during the course of video conferencing hearing, the Ld. Addl CIT asked for the Affidavit from the previous Counsel which was duly submitted wherein he has admitted that the intimation was delivered on the said email id and unfortunately the same remain unattended. It was submitted that the previous Counsel has not disowned the said email id rather the said email id is registered on departmental portal by the previous Counsel only. It was submitted that only when the assessee received a telephonic call from the jurisdictional AO regarding the recovery of the outstanding demand, it came to know that previous Counsel has not taken any action against the intimation order so passed under section 143(1) of the Act. It was accordingly submitted that the delay caused was purely a mistake on the part of previous Counsel and the assessee could not be blamed for the negligence or inaction on the part of the previous Counsel. It was accordingly submitted that the delay so happened in filing the appeal before first appellate authority be condoned and the matter be heard on merits and in support, reliance was also placed on the findings of Coordinate Delhi Bench in case of SMC Capitals Ltd. , New Delhi Vs. Assessee, Delhi in ITA No. 1342/Del/2010 .

4. It was further submitted that the previous Counsel who has filed the return of income has selected the wrong exemption provisions under section 10(23C)(vi) instead of Section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act. In this regard, it was submitted that the assessee society is a charitable educational institution existing solely for education purpose and not for the purpose of profit and having the gross receipts of Rs. 78,83,619/- which are less than the limit prescribed under section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act. It was accordingly submitted that since the wrong exemption provision have been stated by the previous Counsel while filing the return of income, the CPC Bangalore has determined the tax amounting to Rs. 72,321/- as the approval details were not filed in the return of income. It was further submitted that for the A.Y. 2019-20 , 2022-23 and 2023-24, the assessee has claimed exemption under section 10(23C)(iiiad) of the Act and which has been duly allowed while processing the return of income by CPC Bangalore. In this regard, it was submitted that the assessee has filed rectification application under section 154 alongwith the revised computation chart and revised Income Tax Return with Jurisdictional AO Ward-1, Barnala on 28/03/2023 which is still pending with the j