Commissioner Of Income Tax,Jaipur-Ii, Jaipur v. M/S Arpit Marbles Pvt. Ltd

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHANBENCH AT JAIPUR D.B.INCOME TAX APPEAL NO. 180 / 2005 Commissioner of Income Tax,Jaipur-II, Jaipur. ----Appellant Versus M/s Arpit Marbles Pvt. Ltd. Amer Road, Jaipur. ----Respondent Connected With D.B.INCOME TAX APPEAL No. 252 / 2005 Commissioner of Income Tax,Jaipur-II, Jaipur. Versus M/s Arpit Marbles Pvt. Ltd. Amer Road, Jaipur. ----Appellant ----Respondent __________________________________________ For Appellant :Mr. R.B. MathurFor Respondents :Mr. Naresh Gupta __________________________________________ HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K.S. JHAVERI HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH MEHTA Judgment Per Hon’ble Jhaveri, J. 06/12/2016 1.Instant appeals are directed against order of the IncomeTax Appellate Tribunal and indisputably the tax effect as brought to our notice, is less than Rs.20 lac. 2.A Circular No.21/2015 has been issued by the CentralBoard of Direct Taxes dated 10.12.2015 in exercise of its poweru/sec. 268A (1) of the Income-tax Act 1961 in supersession ofthe Boards instruction No.5/2014 dt.10.7.2014 regularising themonetary limits for filing the appeals by the Revenue before theTribunal, High Courts and Apex Court with an object forreducing litigation. Relevant para nos.3, 8, 9 and 10 reads adinfra :- “3.Henceforth, appeals/SLPs shall not be filed incases where the tax effect does not exceed themonetary limits given hereunder :- S.Appeals in Income-taxMonetary Limit (inNo.mattersRs.)1Before Appellate Tribunal10,00,000/-2Before High Court20,00,000/-3Before Supreme Court25,00,000/- It is clarified that an appeal should not be filedmerely because the tax effect in a case exceeds themonetary limits prescribed above. Filing of appeal insuch cases is to be decided on merits of the case. 8.Adverse judgments relating to the followingissuesshouldbecontestedonmeritsnotwithstanding that the tax effect entailed is lessthan the monetary limits specified in para 3 above orthere is no tax effect: (a) Where the Constitutional validity of theprovisions of an Act or Rule are under challenge, or (b)Where Board's order, Notification,Instruction or Circular has been held to be illegal orultra vires, or (c)Where Revenue Audit objection in thecase has been accepted by the Department, or (d)Where the addition relates to undisclosedforeign assets/bank accounts. 9.The monetary limits specified in para 3 aboveshall not apply to writ matters and direct tax mattersother than Income tax. Filing of appeals in otherDirect tax matters shall continue to be governed byrelevant provisions of statute & rules. Further, filingof appeal in cases of Income Tax, where the taxeffect is not quantifiable or not involved, such as thecase of registration of trusts or institutions undersection 12 A of the IT Act, 1961, shall not begoverned by the limits specified in para 3 above anddecision to file appeal in such cases may be taken onmerits of a particular case. 10.This instruction will apply retrospectively topending appeals and appeals to be filed henceforthin High Courts/Tribunals. Pending appeals below thespecified tax limits in para 3 above may bewithdrawn/not pressed. Appeals before theSupreme Court will be governed by the instructionson this subject, operative at the time when suchappeal was filed.” 3.The extract of the paragraphs referred to supra, clearlyindicates that the limits specified in para 3 may not apply tocertain exceptions specified in para 8, at the same time paranos.9 and 10 of the Circular if read conjointly, clearly envisagesthat the present instructions will apply retrospectively to all thepending appeals and appeals to be filed henceforth in HighCourts/Tribunals, subject to exceptions where the tax effecteven if is less than Rs.20 lac, can be preferred in High Courts. 3.The extract of the paragraphs referred to supra, clearlyindicates that the limits specified in para 3 may not apply tocertain exceptions specified in para 8, at the same time paranos.9 and 10 of the Circular if read conjointly, clearly envisagesthat the present instructions will apply retrospectively to all thepending appeals and appeals to be filed henceforth in HighCourts/Tribunals, subject to exceptions where the tax effecteven if is less than Rs.20 lac, can be preferred in High Courts. 4.Taking note of the CBDT Circular dt. 10/12/2015 and thetax effect which indisputably in the instant case is less than Rs.20 lac, much less than what has been prescribed for filingappeal before the High Courts, deserves to be dismissed as notpressed. However, it is made clear that the substantialquestions of law raised in the instant appeals, if any, are leftopen to be examined in an appropriate proceeding, if arises infuture. At the same time we consider it appropriate to observethat if the appeal falls in any of the exceptions as referred to inthe Circular dt. 10/12/2015, the Revenue will be at liberty tomove an application for recalling of the order if so advised. 5.Accordingly, in the light of the CBDT Circular dated10.12.2015 the appeals stand dismissed as not pressed. (DINESH MEHTA)J. (K.S. JHAVERI)J. bblm