2012 (9) TMI 663 - HC - Income Tax

Dismissal of Appeal - non deciding the Department s appeal by treating it infructuous being duplicate - Held that - Tribunal was not correct in observing that the department had filed duplicate appeals. The department had challenged two different orders one passed under Section 143 (1) (a) and other under Section 154 separately. The apparent mistake, which was sought to be corrected, before the Tribunal by an application dated 11.5.2000, Tribunal committed error in law in failing to take into consideration the application dated 11.5.2000, for correction of the mistake - The matter is remanded back to the Tribunal to consider the Appeal on merits after deciding the application dated 11.5.2000 for correction of the mistake - in favour of Revenue.

Summary

Issues:
Appeal against Tribunal's order dismissing one of two identical appeals as duplicate without considering rectification application.

Analysis:
The High Court heard an Income Tax Appeal under Section 260-A against the Tribunal's order dismissing one of two identical appeals, considering it a duplicate of the other. The appellant argued that the appeals were against different orders of the CIT, one under Section 143(1)(a) and the other under Section 154 of the Income Tax Act, filed by mistake without necessary details. An application was made to rectify the defects, but the Tribunal dismissed one appeal instead of allowing the rectification.

The substantial questions of law raised in the appeal questioned the correctness of the Tribunal's decision not to decide the Department's appeal on merits, dismissing it as duplicate and on technical grounds. The appellant contended that the defects in the appeal papers were detected during the hearing, and the Assessing Officer applied for rectification and condonation of delay, submitting corrected appeal forms. The respondent argued that the defects were incurable as separate appeals should have been filed for each order challenged, and the Tribunal did not err in dismissing one appeal.

The High Court considered the tax effect and the mistake sought to be corrected before the Tribunal, finding that the Tribunal erred in not considering the application for correction. It also noted that the department had challenged two different orders separately, and the memo of appeal was defective, warranting correction. Consequently, all questions of law were decided in favor of the revenue, allowing the appeal and remanding the matter to the Tribunal to consider the appeal on merits after addressing the rectification application dated 11.5.2000.