Income-Tax Objection Filed Next Working Day After Sunday Deadline Valid: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 24 September held that a taxpayer's objection against a draft income-tax assessment cannot be rejected as time-barred when the 30-day deadline falls on a Sunday and the objection is filed on the next working day.

Justice Smita Das De was dealing with a plea by GFK Mode Private Limited, whose objection before the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) was rejected as time-barred. The last date was 15 March 2026, which was a Sunday, and the company filed its objection on 16 March. The Bench observed:

“Consequently, this Court holds that the objection filed by the petitioner on 16th March 2026 was well within the prescribed period of 30 days as contemplated under the statute. The rejection of the same as time barred by respondent No. 3 is erroneous and unsustainable in law.”

The Court relied on Section 10 of the General Clauses Act, which allows an act to be done on the next working day when the last date falls on a day when the concerned office is closed. It also held that the procedure under Section 144C of the Income Tax Act is mandatory and the Assessing Officer cannot pass the final assessment order without following the DRP process.

Accordingly, the High Court set aside the final assessment order and directed the DRP to decide the company's objections on merits after giving it a personal hearing. The consequential penalty proceedings were also kept on hold till the DRP proceedings are decided.

For the Petitioner: Mr. Pratyush Jhunjhunwala, Ms. Sakshi Singhi

For the State Respondent: Ms. Manju Agarwala, Mr. S. Roychowdhury, Mr. R. Chakraborty

For the Respondent(s): Mr. Tarak Nath Jaiswal, Mr. Amit Sharma, Mr. Abhishek Kumar Agrahari