2017 (9) TMI 1796 - AT - Income Tax

Extension of stay - Denial of deduction under section 80IC - HELD THAT - At the time of hearing it has been brought out by the parties that the CIT(A) has since disposed of the appeal for assessment year 2008-09 and that the matter is now before the Tribunal. Considering the aforesaid factual matrix, it emerges that now the dispute in the assessment year 2011-12 is ripe for hearing since assessee s appeal for assessment year 2008-09 is also due for hearing before the Tribunal. It would be in the fitness of things, as indicated by us at the time of hearing that the appeals for assessment year 2008-09 as well as the captioned year be taken up together to facilitate expeditious disposal. Therefore, the registry is directed to post the appeals of the assessee as well as of the Revenue for assessment year 2011-12 alongwith the appeal for assessment year 2008-09. In the meanwhile, considering the fact that the reasons for the non-disposal of the appeal cannot be attributed to the assessee and the fact that the proceedings are now ripe for final hearing by the Tribunal, we deem it fit and proper to extend the stay on the recovery of outstanding demand for a period of six months or till the disposal of the appeal by the Tribunal, whichever is earlier. Stay application of the assessee is allowed

Summary

Issues:
Extension of outstanding demand sought by the assessee.

Analysis:
The assessee sought an extension of the outstanding demand of ?125,42,11,550, previously extended by the Tribunal's order dated 17/03/2017. The Tribunal had initially granted a stay on the recovery of the outstanding demand on 18/03/2016, with certain conditions, including a deposit of ?13.00 crores by the assessee. The Tribunal noted compliance with these conditions in its order dated 17/03/2017. The delay in disposing of the appeal was attributed to adjournments sought by the Departmental Representative, not the assessee. The assessee requested an extension of the stay as the appeal was fixed for hearing on 02/11/2017, along with a cross-appeal by the Revenue for the same assessment year. The Departmental Representative did not dispute these facts.

The Department had been seeking time to argue the appeal before the Tribunal, citing an issue related to deduction under section 80IC of the Act, which was based on a previous assessment year pending before the CIT(A). The Tribunal had previously directed not to recover the demand related to this issue until the disposal of the appeal by the CIT(A). The CIT(A) had since disposed of the appeal for the previous assessment year, and the matter was now before the Tribunal. The Tribunal directed the appeals for the current and previous assessment years to be taken up together for expeditious disposal. Given that the delay in appeal disposal was not due to the assessee and the proceedings were ripe for final hearing, the Tribunal extended the stay on the recovery of the outstanding demand for six months or until the appeal's disposal, whichever is earlier.

Therefore, the stay application of the assessee was allowed, and the decision was pronounced in the open court in the presence of both parties on 29/09/2017.