Madras High Court Accepts Petitioner’s Ignorance as Genuine Due to Failed Notices via Portal, Email, and RPAD, and 8-Year Delay Since Transaction
Recently, the Madras High Court Accepted Petitioner’s Ignorance as Genuine Due to Failed Notices via Portal, Email, and RPAD, and 8-Year Delay Since Transaction. Writ Petition No. 38758 of 2024 was filed by the petitioner challenging the order passed under Section 143(3) read with Section 114 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, by the Income Tax Officer for the Assessment Year 2015-16. The petitioner claimed that she had no income apart from her salary, with TDS deducted by her employer, and therefore had no reason to file a return of income. Consequently, she was unaware of the reassessment notice. The petitioner further contended that she was residing in the USA and had no opportunity to respond to the notices allegedly sent by the department.
The respondents claimed that notices were duly served via the online portal, email, and RPAD. However, the email notice bounced back, and the RPAD notice returned with an endorsement stating “No such addressee.”
The Court acknowledged that since the petitioner was not a regular taxpayer, she could not be reasonably expected to monitor the income tax portal regularly. As the email bounced back and the RPAD notice was undelivered, the Court found the petitioner’s claim of ignorance to be genuine, particularly since the assessment pertained to an event from 2015-16, and the notice was issued eight years later.
The Court set aside the impugned order on the grounds of violation of natural justice, subject to the petitioner paying Rs. 7,500/- to the Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai. The petitioner was directed to file a reply within three weeks from the date of receipt of the certified order copy. The Income Tax Department was instructed to issue a 14-day clear notice for a personal hearing and pass a fresh order thereafter.
The Copy Of the order is as under:
