The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Income Tax Department challenging a Bombay High Court ruling, citing an unexplained delay of 248 days in filing the appeal.
The Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan remarked, “There is a gross delay of 248 days in filing the Special Leave Petition which has not been satisfactorily explained by the petitioner.”
The matter, arising out of Writ Petition No. 10749/2024 before the Bombay High Court, concerned an income-tax dispute where the High Court had granted relief to the assessee against the department’s action. Dissatisfied with the verdict, the Income Tax Department approached the Supreme Court.
The court also observed that there was no merit in the appeal, stating, “Even otherwise, we see no reason to interfere with the impugned order passed by the High Court.”
Consequently, the SLP was dismissed both on the grounds of delay and lack of merit.
Bombay High Court’s Decision
The Bombay High Court while ruling in favour of the assessee held that the proceedings were initiated well after the expiry of three years from the end of the relevant assessment year. If this be so, the contention as urged on behalf of the petitioner is that the sanction for initiating the reassessment ought to have been granted by the authorities of the rank referred to in Section 151 (ii) of the Act and not by the authorities of the relatively lower rank under Section 151 (i) of the Act.
Case Details
Case Title: Income Tax Officer Versus Prakash Pandurang Patil
Case No.: Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No. 39689/2025
Date: 18-08-2025
Counsel For Petitioner: N Venkatarman, A.S.G.
