High Court of Orissa · Judgments and reasoned final orders
Sri Baidyanath Memorial Trust v. Income Tax Officer, Exemption Circle, Bhubaneswar and Others
W.P.(C) No. 1755 of 2026 ·
Orders of ITAT Cuttack and Addl./JCIT(A) Nashik refusing to condone 822-day delay in filing first appeal against section 143(1) CPC intimation (disallowing Rs. 2,60,16,856 charitable exemption) set aside by applying Supreme Court Covid-19 limitation exclusion.
1. FACTS OF THE CASE
The petitioner, a charitable educational trust registered under section 12AA and approved under section 10(23C), filed its return for AY 2019-20 claiming exemption of Rs. 2,60,16,856. On 24.12.2021 — during the Covid-19 pandemic period — CPC Bengaluru issued an intimation under section 143(1) disallowing the entire exemption of Rs. 2,60,16,856 and raising a tax demand of Rs. 1,10,59,860. After first pursuing rectification and revision remedies, the trust filed a first appeal before the Addl./JCIT(A)-1, Nashik with an 822-day delay. By order dated 17.06.2025, the Addl./JCIT(A)-1 dismissed the appeal in limine as barred by limitation, and by order dated 26.09.2025 in ITA No. 438/CTK/2025, the ITAT Cuttack Bench affirmed the refusal to condone delay.
2. DISCUSSION BY THE COURT
The Division Bench observed that the CPC intimation under section 143(1) was passed on 24.12.2021, squarely within the Covid-19 limitation-exclusion window (15.03.2020 to 28.02.2022, with an additional 90 days from 01.03.2022) mandated by the Supreme Court in In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitation, and the remaining period was explained by the trust's bona fide pursuit of rectification/revision remedies and administrative difficulties. Both the First Appellate Authority and the ITAT adopted an overly pedantic approach in refusing to condone delay when a registered charitable trust faced a Rs. 1.10 crore demand due to a CPC processing adjustment.
3. JUDICIAL DECISION
The High Court set aside both the ITAT Cuttack Bench order dated 26.09.2025 (ITA No. 438/CTK/2025) and the Addl./JCIT(A)-1 Nashik order dated 17.06.2025, condoned the delay in filing the first appeal, and restored the appeal to the file of the First Appellate Authority for fresh adjudication on merits in accordance with law.
4. OUTCOME
In favour of the assessee (Sri Baidyanath Memorial Trust); ITAT and JCIT(A) orders set aside, delay condoned, and appeal restored to JCIT(A) for merits disposal.
5. AKHB REVIEW POINT
AKHB analysis: Appellate authorities must exclude the Covid-19 suo motu period up to 30.05.2022 when computing delay against a December 2021 section 143(1) intimation and should adopt a justice-oriented approach where a registered charitable trust faces denial of its entire section 11/10(23C) exemption on technical processing grounds.
Source and verification
Reviewed from the complete 7-page official High Court judgment PDF (20260219_ODHC010028672026.pdf, SHA-256: 80462568f044ca21a65ca231bfe398ff9eb4d6fceed97d6ee11365d773f37aec).
Original PDF: 7 pages · SHA-256: 80462568f044ca21a65ca231bfe398ff9eb4d6fceed97d6ee11365d773f37aec
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Refers to the Income-tax Act, 1961 and allied statutory rules/circulars as applicable to the relevant assessment years.
No subsequent Supreme Court reversal or stay is recorded in the source judgment text.
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