Gujarat HC Gives 82-Year-Old Woman Relief in Missed Tax Return Case

The Gujarat High Court helped an 82-year-old woman, Shushila Patel, who had not filed her income tax return for 2017-18. The court told the income-tax department to take another look at her case and review her tax calculation if she asks them to.

The judges – Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi set aside a 2022 order from the income-tax department that had refused to review the woman’s case. They said the department should show more understanding because of her age and health problems.

The court pointed out that she normally files her tax returns on time, but this time she couldn’t because she has several health issues like Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Also, her accountant and manager accidentally failed to file her return.

The government’s lawyer said that the woman didn’t reply to the tax notices and didn’t use the chances she was given to explain her case. But the High Court still cancelled the order that rejected her request and sent the case back to the tax department to look at it again.

The bench added, “In view of settled legal precedent, we are of the opinion that the Commissioner, while exercising the powers under the provision of Section 264 of the Income Tax Act, ought to have examined positively in favor of the petitioner without rejecting her application on technical grounds. However, we also find that the petitioner committed a mistake in not timely responding to the show-cause notices and providing the material. But, at the same time, her age and her ailment cannot be ignored.”

The court said that the tax commissioner should have decided the case in the petitioner’s favor instead of rejecting it over technicalities.