The Madras High Court has directed the Income Tax Department to restore access to its digital portal for a taxpayer unable to file a return due to technical glitches, highlighting judicial support for procedural fairness amid evolving e-filing systems.
The Madras High Court has once again intervened in a tax dispute, this time over a taxpayer’s claim that a technical fault on the income tax portal prevented him from filing a return. The case comes against the backdrop of the department’s digital filing system, which replaced the earlier portal and requires taxpayers to keep contact details and registration information up to date. The court has also previously shown willingness to relax strict filing requirements where tax procedure has collided with practical difficulty, including in matters involving Aadhaar and faceless assessments.
In the latest matter, the bench set aside a demand order dated 16 July 2026 after finding that Sankaran Mekala had made a credible attempt to comply but could not upload his return because of technical problems. According to the report, Mekala had earlier been directed to file the return and respond to a notice issued under section 148 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, after approaching the court over earlier assessment proceedings. He then deposited Rs 5 lakh, but said the return still would not go through. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy accepted a screenshot as evidence of the upload failure and granted him another opportunity in the interests of justice.
The court ordered the Income Tax Department to open the portal so Mekala could file his return for assessment year 2015-16 within three weeks. It also directed the department to complete the assessment within six weeks of the return being filed. The ruling fits a broader pattern in which courts have pushed back against tax actions seen as procedurally unfair, whether in cases involving alleged malicious prosecution, large disputed demands or challenges to the faceless assessment regime.
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