Assessee’s application for condoning the delay in filing the return of income for the asst. yrs. 2016-17 has been rejected on the ground that it was filed after the time period prescribed for condoning the delay of six years as per the Circular No. 9 of 2015, dt. 9th June, 2015. On writ the Court held that considering the fact that the assessee had raised his grievances as early as on 26th Feb., 2019 and also approached the Public Grievance Portal of the Prime Minister’s Office and in pursuance to which the assessee was refunded Rs. 2,32,549 in respect of the two assessment years i.e., 2017-18 and 2018-19, the application dt. 31st May, 2023 should not be treated in isolation as it dates back to 26th Feb., 2019 when, the assessee raised her grievance for the first time. Thus, the application can be said to be on time, hence the  order is set aside. Assessee should be permitted to rectify the returns of income for the AY..2016-17.Assessee should approach the assessing authority within a period of ten days from today and rectify the errors/defects in the returns. After the assessee rectifies the errors, his claim for refund should be processed in accordance with the law. (AY 2016-17)