D.b. Income Tax Reference v. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JAIPUR BENCH JAIPUR D.B. Income Tax Reference No.1/2004CIT, Jaipur Vs. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur 2.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.2/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur 3.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.3/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur 4.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.4/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur 5.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.6/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur 6.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.7/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. Laxman Parashar Sawaimadhopur 7.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.13/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. M/s. P.V. Jwellers, Jaipur 8.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.20/2004CIT Jaipur Vs. M/s. Hazarimal Milapchand, Soorana, Jaipur 9.D.B. Income Tax Reference No.21/2004CIT Vs. M/s. KD Jhaveri, Jaipur 10.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.825/2004CIT, Kota Vs. Shri Chandi Ram 11.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.73/1999CIT, Bikaner Vs. Smt. Prem Lata Kedia 12.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.50/2001Commissioner of Wealth Tax, Jaipur Vs. Sundermal Kedia 13.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.32/2002CIT, Bikaner Vs. CIT, Bikaner Vs. Shri Mukesh Kedia 14.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.98/2002CIT, Bikaner Vs. CIT, Bikaner Vs. Smt. Amita Kedia 15.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.159/2002CIT, Bikaner Vs.CIT, Bikaner Vs. Kedia International 16.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.60/2004CIT, Jaipur-I, JaipurCIT, Jaipur-I, Jaipur Vs. Smt. Shashibala Goel 17.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.61/2004CIT, Jaipur-I, JaipurCIT, Jaipur-I, Jaipur Vs. Smt. Sashibala Goel 18.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.62/2004CIT, Jaipur-I, JaipurVs. CIT, Jaipur-I, JaipurVs. Ms Meghna Goel 19.D.B. Income Tax Appeal No.111/2004CIT, Jaipur-I, Jaipur Vs. Ms. Meghna Goel Date of Order ::: 13.04.2016 HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.N. BHANDARIHON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIJAY KUMAR VYAS ::: 13.04.2016 Mrs. Parinitoo Jain with ) Mr. Mukesh Meena ) Mr. Ashwini Jaiman ) Mr. Saurabh Jain & ) Mr. Anuroop Singhi ) for the appellants. Mr. NK Jain with ) Ms. Priya Srivastava & ) Mr. Raj Kumar Yadav ) Mr. Ravi Bhojak ) Mr. Siddarth Ranka, ) for the assessee. Instant appeals/reference are directed against order of the Income Tax AppellateTribunal and indisputably the tax effect asbrought to our notice, is less than Rs.20lac. A Circular No.21/2015 has been issued bythe Central Board of Direct Taxes dated10.12.2015 in exercise of its power u/sec.268A (1) of the Income-tax Act 1961 insupersession of the Boards instructionNo.5/2014 dt.10.7.2014 regularising themonetary limits for filing the appeals by theRevenue before the Tribunal, High Courts andApex Court with an object for reducinglitigation. Relevant para nos.3, 8, 9 and 10reads ad infra :- “3. Henceforth, appeals/SLPs shallnot be filed in cases where the taxeffect does not exceed the monetarylimits given hereunder :- It is clarified that an appeal shouldnot be filed merely because the taxeffect in a case exceeds the monetarylimits prescribed above. Filing ofappeal in such cases is to be decidedon merits of the case.4.xxxxxxxxx 5.xxxxxxxxx6.xxxxxxxxx7.xxxxxxxxx 8.Adverse judgments relating to thefollowing issues should be contestedon merits notwithstanding that thetax effect entailed is less than themonetary limits specified in para 3above or there is no tax effect: (a) Where the Constitutionalvalidity of the provisions of an Actor Rule are under challenge, or (b) WhereBoard'sorder,Notification, Instruction or Circularhas been held to be illegal or ultravires, or (c) Where Revenue Audit objectionin the case has been accepted by theDepartment, or (d) Where the addition relates toundisclosedforeignassets/bankaccounts. 5.xxxxxxxxx6.xxxxxxxxx7.xxxxxxxxx 8.Adverse judgments relating to thefollowing issues should be contestedon merits notwithstanding that thetax effect entailed is less than themonetary limits specified in para 3above or there is no tax effect: (a) Where the Constitutionalvalidity of the provisions of an Actor Rule are under challenge, or (b) WhereBoard'sorder,Notification, Instruction or Circularhas been held to be illegal or ultravires, or (c) Where Revenue Audit objectionin the case has been accepted by theDepartment, or (d) Where the addition relates toundisclosedforeignassets/bankaccounts. 9.The monetary limits specified inpara 3 above shall not apply to writmatters and direct tax matters otherthan Income tax. Filing of appealsin other Direct tax matters shallcontinue to be governed by relevantprovisions of statute & rules.Further, filing of appeal in cases ofIncome Tax, where the tax effect isnot quantifiable or not involved,such as the case of registration oftrusts or institutions under section12 A of the IT Act, 1961, shall notbe governed by the limits specifiedin para 3 above and decision to fileappeal in such cases may be taken onmerits of a particular case. 10. This instruction will applyretrospectively to pending appealsand appeals to be filed henceforth inHigh Courts/Tribunals. Pendingappeals below the specified taxlimits in para 3 above may bewithdrawn/not pressed. Appealsbefore the Supreme Court will begoverned by the instructions on thissubject, operative at the time whensuch appeal was filed.” The extract of the paragraphs referred tosupra, clearly indicates that the limitsspecified in para 3 may not apply to certainexceptions specified in para 8, at the sametime para nos.9 and 10 of the Circular ifread conjointly, clearly envisages that thepresentinstructionswillapplyretrospectively to all the pending appealsand appeals to be filed henceforth in HighCourts/Tribunals, subject to exceptionswhere the tax effect even if is less thanRs.20 lac, can be preferred in High Courts. Taking note of the CBDT Circular dt.10/12/2015 and the tax effect whichindisputably in the instant case is less thanRs.20 lac, much less than what has beenprescribed for filing appeal/reference beforethe High Courts, deserves to be dismissed asnot pressed. However, it is made clear thatthe substantial questions of law raised inthe instant appeals/reference, if any, areleft open to be examined in an appropriateproceeding, if arises in future. At the sametime we consider it appropriate to observethat if the appeal/reference falls in any ofthe exceptions as referred to in the Circular dt. 10/12/2015, the Revenue will be atliberty to move an application for recallingof the order if so advised. Accordingly, in the light of the CBDTCirculardated10.12.2015the appeals/reference stand dismissed as not pressed. Let a copy of this order be placed ineach file separately. (VIJAY KUMAR VYAS),J (M.N. BHANDARI),J sunita/52to61&63,64,66,69,70,73,75,76,78 All corrections made in the judgment/order have been incorporated in thejudgment/order being e-mailed. Sunita KanwarJr.P.A.