Allowing the petition, that reasonable cause for the delay was explained in the application submitted by the assessee. It was a case of genuine hardship to the assessee and the discretion should have been exercised in favour of the assessee. The assessee did mention in his application about the illness of his wife, about hospitalisation of his wife and in all fairness, the delay should have been condoned. The tax deducted at source which the assessee claimed, was in respect of tax deducted at source by the State of Madhya Pradesh as the assessee was a Government advocate. The assessee’s application for condonation of delay under section 119(2)(b) for claiming refund in respect of the assessment year 2015-16 was to be allowed. It was not a case of evasion of tax or that the assessee did not file return under section 139(4) but only that the acknowledgment was not forwarded to the Central Processing Centre within the prescribed time. There was certainly a delay and the assessee was aged about 78 years, his wife was critically ill and was hospitalised for more than two months and he was running for the treatment of his wife. A discretion had been provided to the Principal Commissioner to condone the delay in such cases by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in the Circular dated June 9, 2015 ([2015] 374 ITR (St.) 25). The Principal Director was directed to process the refund as claimed by the assessee condoning the delay.( AY.2015-16)