The assessee had claimed refund in its income-tax return but filed a formal condonation application later. The Revenue rejected the claim citing delay beyond the permissible period under CBDT Circular No. 9 of 2015 dt. 9-6-2015.  The High Court held that both para 3 (prescribing six years’ limit) and para 6 (providing for condonation in deserving cases) of the circular must be considered. Importantly, when refund is claimed in the return itself, the relevant date for computing delay is the date of the return, and not the date of a subsequent condonation petition. Since the claim was part of the return and the delay was otherwise condonable, the rejection by Revenue was not justified. Affirming the Single Judge’s order, the Court directed that the refund be considered. (AY. 2013-14)