2024 (10) TMI 540 - HC - Income Tax

Non acceptance of appeal online as problem affixing the digital signature - seeking permission for physical filing of the appeal along with challan fee and acknowledgment - HELD THAT - The present imbroglio has come about not on account of any human error or any omission or commission on the part of either of the parties, but prima facie appears to be on account of technical issues which are, as is well known, beyond human control at times. As perused the operative portion of the order authority has recorded that the appeal is treated as invalid ab initio, from which it is clear that the authority has treated the appeal as an invalidly filed appeal. The intent of the authority is further amplified by the last sentence, which states, For statistical purposes, it is treated as dismissed . Thus, it is apparent that the appeal filed manually has not been heard and disposed of on merits. In that view of the matter, the order impugned, in our considered opinion, would not warrant any interference. The apprehension expressed by the petitioners that the appeal filed online may be rejected on the ground of delay, also cannot be said to be without any basis. The apprehension is reasonable as delay is also a ground on which the right of appeal can be negated by the appellate authority. The instant writ petition can be disposed of by directing the appellate authority to take into consideration the date of filing of the manual appeal for the purposes of calculating and appreciating the issue of delay in respect of the appeal preferred online.

Summary

Issues:
1. Appeal filed online not accepted due to digital signature issues.
2. Appeal filed physically treated as invalid by the authority.
3. Apprehension that online appeal may be rejected for delay.
4. Request for direction to consider filing date of manual appeal for online appeal delay calculation.

Analysis:
The judgment deals with a case where a company-assessee attempted to file an appeal online against an assessment order but faced issues with digital signature, leading to the online appeal not being accepted. Subsequently, a physical appeal was filed, which was deemed invalid by the authority. The authority held the paper appeal as invalid ab initio, stating it was not compliant with statutory provisions and treated it as dismissed for statistical purposes. The court noted that the manual appeal was not heard on merits, and thus, the order was not interfered with. The judgment highlighted that the technical issues causing the problem were beyond human control. The court acknowledged the apprehension that the online appeal might be rejected for delay, as delay can be a valid ground for appeal rejection. Consequently, the court directed the appellate authority to consider the filing date of the manual appeal to assess any delay in the online appeal, ultimately disposing of the writ petition without costs.