In Brief
The Commissioner of Income Tax challenged the High Court's refusal to condone a 14-day delay in filing an appeal under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The High Court had ruled it lacked the power to condone such delay. The Supreme Court held that the High Court possesses inherent jurisdiction to condone procedural delays, regardless of whether express statutory power existed at the time. The Court condoned the delay and remitted the case to the High Court to decide the appeal on merits, noting that a statutory amendment later granting this power did not alter the pre-existing inherent jurisdiction.
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