Delhi HC rebukes I-T department for delayed appeal filing

The court dismissed the application and the appeal, pointing out the importance of adhering to the law of limitation and expressing the need for government officials to act with due expedition.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has expressed strong criticism towards the Income Tax (I-T) department for filing an appeal after a delay of nearly 500 days.

The court stated that such deliberate inaction cannot be accepted and emphasised the need for officials to be penalised for such conduct.

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A division bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Girish Kathpalia noted that despite previous judicial pronouncements expressing dissatisfaction with the behaviour of government officials in terms of delays, there has been little change in their attitude.

The court remarked that such delays often stem from extreme negligence and dereliction of duties on the part of government officials. The court further mentioned that such delays can have detrimental effects, especially when they are used to exploit limitations and dismiss government appeals, thereby benefiting a particular party.

The judges called for a shift from negligence to due diligence to prevent justice from being compromised due to indifference and negligence. The case in question dealt with an application filed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, seeking to condone a delay of 498 days in filing an appeal under the Income Tax Act.

The court dismissed the application and the appeal, pointing out the importance of adhering to the law of limitation and expressing the need for government officials to act with due expedition.

The judges concluded by expecting that legal representatives, who represent the revenue in court, would educate their officers about the Supreme Court’s stance on such issues, referring to a previous case (Bherulal) that dealt with similar matters.