Natural Justice Prevails: ITAT Condones 85 Days' Delay in Filing Appeal; Directs CIT(A) to Decide Case on Merits:

Natural Justice Prevails: ITAT Condones 85 Days' Delay in Filing Appeal; Directs CIT(A) to Decide Case on Merits The ITAT Delhi Bench found it in the interest of natural justice to condone 85 days delay in appeal filing before the lower appellate authority. The case is remanded for fresh adjudication, as the CIT(A) had not considered the taxpayer's explanation behind the delay; additionally, the case was not heard on its merits. The assessee, EQX Analytics Private Limited, had filed an appeal before the lower appellate authority, i.e., the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)]/National Faceless Appeal Centre (NFAC), Delhi. However, its appeal was dismissed on the grounds of an 85-day delay through an order dated November 20, 2025. The case pertains to the assessment year 2020-21.

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The aggrieved assessee approached the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Delhi and claimed that the CIT(A) had unfairly dismissed its appeal merely on the grounds of delay in filing and did not even examine the case on its merits. The counsel stated that the CIT(A) did not even appreciate that the assessee had shown all the reasonable and sufficient cause that led to the delay in filing the appeal. The assessee claimed that there were strong reasons why it had not appeared before the first appellate authority. Consequently, the assessee prayed the tribunal to remand the case back to the CIT(A) for fresh adjudication.

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When the tribunal examined the case, it noted that the CIT(A) had decided the case ex parte without hearing the assessee. Additionally, the case was not decided on the merits; instead, the appeal was dismissed merely on the grounds of being filed late by 85 days. Hence, the tribunal concludes that, in the interest of natural justice, the assessee should be heard, as it possesses relevant reasons behind filing the appeal late. The ITAT held that "We observed that there is a delay of 85 days in filing the appeal before the ld. CIT (A). We observed that ld. CIT (A) did not condone the delay in filing the appeal and dismissed the appeal on this account alone and not decided the issues on merits. In the interest of justice, we condone the delay in filing the appeal before the ld. CIT (A) and restore the issues to the file of ld. CIT (A)."

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Accordingly, the delay was condoned, and the case is remanded back to the lower appellate authority, i.e., CIT(A), for fresh consideration. The CIT(A) has been directed to grant the assessee a fair opportunity of hearing and decide the case on its merits.