D.b. Income Tax Appeal v. Shri Laxmi Narain Agarwal

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHANBENCH AT JAIPUR D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.110/2011Commissioner of Income Tax v. Shri Laxmi Narain Agarwal Date of order13.1.2016 Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ajay RastogiHon'ble Mr. Justice J.K. Ranka Mr. R.B. Mathur withMr. Nikhil Simlote, counsel for appellant By the Court 1.This appeal has been preferred against order dated 16.9.2010of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. 2.As per the question framed, the total addition challengedbefore this court is Rs.32,00,671/- on which tax @ 30% would beabout Rs.12 lac i.e. below Rs.20 lac. The matter is pending since 2011 and still service on the respondent assessee has not beeneffected so far. 3.It is brought to our notice that a Circular has been issued bythe Central Board of Direct Taxes dated 10.12.2015 in exercise of its power u/sec. 268A (1) of the Income-tax Act 1961 laying downrevision of monetary limits for filing of appeals by the Department before the Tribunal and High Courts and SLP before Supreme Court keeping in view the measures for reducing litigation. Para 3 of the Circular reads as under :- “3.Henceforth, appeals/SLPs shall not be filed in caseswhere the tax effect does not exceed the monetary limitsgiven 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 filed merelybecause the tax effect in a case exceeds the monetary limitsprescribed above. Filing of appeal in such cases is to bedecided on merits of the case. 4.xxxxxxxxx5.xxxxxxxxx6.xxxxxxxxx7.xxxxxxxxx8.xxxxxxxxx9.The monetary limits specified in para 3 above shallnot apply to writ matters and direct tax matters other thanIncome tax. Filing of appeals in other Direct tax mattersshall continue to be governed by relevant provisions ofstatute & rules. Further, filing of appeal in cases of IncomeTax, where the tax effect is not quantifiable or not involved,such as the case of registration of trusts or institutionsunder section 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 on meritsof a particular case. 10.This instruction will apply retrospectively to pendingappeals and appeals to be filed henceforth in HighCourts/Tribunals. Pending appeals below the specified taxlimits in para 3 above may be withdrawn/not pressed.Appeals before the Supreme Court will be governed by the instructions on this subject, operative at the time when suchappeal was filed.” And laying down other conditions as well which has to be considered by the Assessing Officer or Appellate Authority as well the CBDT in paras 9 and 10 of the Circular it has been observedthat the monetary limits specified in para 3 above shall not apply towrit matters and direct tax matters, and at the same time theseinstructions will apply retrospectively to the pending appeals andappeals to be filed henceforth in High Courts/Tribunals, and alsobefore the Supreme Court. 4.Taking note of the aforesaid Circular and the tax effect in theinstant appeal which is much less than what has been prescribedfor filing appeal before the High Courts, no purpose would beserved to continue the present appeal any further. However, wemake it clear that the substantial questions of law admitted/soughtto be raised are left open to be considered in an appropriate case. 5.Accordingly, in the light of the CBDT Circular dated 10.12.2015 the appeal is dismissed. (J.K. Ranka) J.(Ajay Rastogi) J. db145 [All corrections made in the judgment/order have been incorporated in the judgment/order being emailed.]Deepankar BhattacharyaDeepankar Bhattacharya