Improper advice by CA no ground of Appeal

ITAT dismisses assessee's plea to condone 2984 days delay in filing of appeal, rejects 'improper advice' given by CA firm as ground for condonation / "sufficient delay"; Tribunal taken aback by CA firm's affidavit, stating that it had advised assessee not to file an appeal with ITAT on same issue for later AYs and rather file a 'rectification or review' plea with AO once Tribunal settled the issue; "Inconceivable that a C.A would have advised the assessee to wait for outcome of a past appeal to decide about the course of action to be taken for the years under consideration", observe Tribunal members; Such advise by a CA badly damages prestige and reputation enjoyed by CA profession, urges ICAI to take strict disciplinary action and immediate steps to stem the "deteriorating standards" & "alarming practices" among some CAs; Criticises ICAI for allowing CA coaching classes to "mushroom", consequently leading to 'manufacturing' of Chartered Accountants and replacement of analytical thinking by 'spoonfeeding'; Expresses doubts over efficacy of CPE seminars, if such advices are given by CAs attending them; Rejects affidavits given by both the CA firm & assessee, remarks that conduct of assessee beyond comprehension of "human conduct and probabilities" : Mumbai ITAT

The ruling was delivered by ITAT bench of Shri. D. Manmohan and Shri.B.R.Baskaran.

[TS-548-ITAT-2014(Mum)]