Supreme Court Dismisses 558-Day Delayed SLP, Imposes Rs. 50,000 Cost on Income Tax Department

The Supreme Court of India dismissed the Special Leave Petition filed by the CIT against a company by refusing to condone a 558-day delay. Also, imposed a cost amounting to Rs. 50,000 on CIT, payable to the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund within four weeks.

The Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) had filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of India against a company named ESS Distribution (Mauritius) SNC ETC Compagnie, challenging an order dated February 13, 2024, passed by the Delhi High Court in ITA No. 336 of 2023. The impugned order had dismissed the CIT’s appeal.

The bench comprising Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Vijay Bishnoi heard the case on January 16, 2026. The Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court of India was filed late by 558 days. The petitioner also furnished an application seeking condonation of delay. However, the court held that the application seeking condonation of delay did not provide sufficient reasons to accept such a long delay. Meaning, the court basically meant the reason mentioned in the application was not justified to condone such a long delay. Therefore, the court dismissed the petitioner’s application of condonation of delay.

Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition was also dismissed. Additionally, the court imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner for filing the appeal after such a significant delay and directed them to pay the imposed cost within the period of four weeks to the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund, maintained at Canara Bank, South Block, Defence Headquarters, New Delhi. The Registry was also instructed to forward a copy of the order to the specified email address for information. All pending applications in the matter were disposed of accordingly.