2009 (12) TMI 556 - HC - Income Tax

Special leave petitions - present review applications filed by the assessee are not maintainable - Held that - power for readmission/restoration of the appeal is always enjoyed by the High Court - However, the enjoyment of such a power to restore the appeal cannot be treated to be a power to review the earlier order passed on the merits, after contest - the present review applications are delayed by 307 days - review petitions not maintainable - Appeal is dismissed

Summary

Issues:
Review petitions seeking review of an order passed by the Division Bench, maintainability of review applications under the Income-tax Act, power of review under statutory provisions, necessity of specific provision for the power of review, comparison of appellate jurisdiction and extraordinary powers, reliance on previous judgments, dismissal of review applications.

Analysis:

1. The judgment addresses three review petitions seeking a review of an order passed by the Division Bench in three appeals related to income tax assessments for various years. The lead case was I. T. A. No. 47 of 2006.

2. The Commissioner of Income-tax filed three appeals against a common order of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal concerning the same assessee for the assessment years 1994-95, 1995-96, and 1999-2000.

3. The High Court allowed the appeals filed by the Commissioner of Income-tax, setting aside the Tribunal's order after considering the formulated question of law and arguments presented by the parties.

4. The assessee had filed special leave petitions before the Supreme Court against the Division Bench's order, which were dismissed, leading to the filing of review petitions before the High Court.

5. The court heard arguments from both parties' senior counsels and considered the record of the case to determine the maintainability of the review applications.

6. The senior counsel for the assessee argued for the review applications' entertain-ability based on the absence of a specific provision under the Income-tax Act for filing such applications, citing a judgment of the court in a previous case.

7. The High Court found that since there is no specific provision for a power of review under the Income-tax Act, the review applications filed by the assessee were not maintainable.

8. The court emphasized that the power of review is a statutory power that must be expressly granted by law, citing relevant Supreme Court decisions to support this principle.

9. It was clarified that the High Court had exercised its statutory appellate power under section 260A while disposing of the income-tax appeals, and without a specific power of review, the order could not be reviewed.

10. The judgment highlighted the distinction between appellate jurisdiction and extraordinary powers under the Constitution of India, emphasizing the limitations of the court's appellate jurisdiction.

11. Since there was no specific provision granting the High Court a power of review, the court deemed the review applications seeking to review the earlier order as misconceived.

12. The court examined a previous judgment cited by the assessee's counsel but concluded that the power to restore an appeal is different from the power to review an order passed on merits after contest.

13. Due to the legal position established, the court decided not to address other issues raised by the senior counsel regarding the merits of the controversy.

14. The court dismissed the review applications, emphasizing the delay in filing and the lack of maintainability, thereby disposing of all the petitions accordingly.

15. The court refrained from commenting on the delay in the review applications due to the decision on maintainability.

16. The review applications were ultimately dismissed, and the matter was concluded as per the rules.