Sri Dharma Tejender Rao Annamaneni, v. Central Board Of Direct Taxes,

THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE RAMESH RANGANATHAN AND THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE M.SATYANARAYANA MURTHY WRIT PETITION NO.8485 OF 2016 ORDER: {Per the Hon'ble Sri Justice Ramesh Ranganathan} Heard Sri A.V.Raghu Ram, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri B.Narasimha Sarma, learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department and, with their consent, the Writ Petition is disposed of at the stage of admission.

The impugned order dated 29.09.2014 is cryptic. All that the Commissioner states, in the impugned order, is that there is no reasonable cause for the delay in filing the return of the income; the assessee had received the amounts for the relevant period; and, hence, their request for condonation was rejected. The petitioner furnished his explanation for the delay, by his letter dated 09.09.2014, and sought for a personal hearing. No personal hearing was afforded to him and, instead, the impugned order was passed rejecting his request for condonation of the delay. We see no reason to keep the Writ Petition pending on the file of this Court, as the impugned order is bereft of reasons. The impugned order is set aside, and the matter is remanded to the second respondent who shall pass a reasoned order afresh in accordance with law.

The Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly. There shall be no order as to costs. Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending shall stand closed.

______________________________ (RAMESH RANGANATHAN, J) ___________________________________

(M.SATYANARAYANA MURTHY, J) 23rd March 2016 RRB