The appellant initially filed a return in November 1989 and revised it twice. The Income Tax Officer rejected the second revised return, declaring that it was barred by limitation u/s 139(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 which only allows a revised return to be filed before the earlier of two dates – one year from the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment.
The appellant approached the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) where the appeal was dismissed on grounds that the revised return was time-barred. The matter was then placed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), which partly allowed the appeal but remanded the case back to the Assessing Officer, instructing him to consider the claim. A further appeal was preferred by the IT department to the Madras High Court where the ITAT’s decision was set aside and it was held that once the revised return was barred by limitation, there was no legal provision to entertain the appellant’s claim. Aggrieved by the High Court’s decision, the appellant approached the Supreme Court.
Finally the Apex Court upheld that the Assessing Officer had no jurisdiction to consider the claim and as such the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had no authority to instruct the Assessing Officer to consider any claim made in case of a time-barred return. Relying on Goetzge (India) Ltd. v. Commissioner of Income Tax (2006) 204 CTR (SC)182 the court reiterated that the assessing officer cannot entertain any claim made by the assessee otherwise than by following the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Since there is no dispute that the revised return filed by the appellant was barred by limitation, the same could not be entertained.