2022 (9) TMI 1543 - HC - Income Tax

Territorial jurisdiction questioned - recourse to the remedy of appeal before the Tribunal or its bench having the territorial jurisdiction - HELD THAT - Though number of grounds have been raised by the petitioner in these two writ petitions, taking into consideration that issues of jurisdiction were not raised when the proceedings were pending but are being raised after the assessment orders have been passed, in our opinion, all these issues can be taken up by taking recourse to the remedy of appeal before the Tribunal or its bench having the territorial jurisdiction. Since we are not inclined to entertain the writ petitions and relegating the petitioner to take recourse of appeal before the Tribunal, the period during which these writ petitions remained pending shall be excluded for the purpose of counting limitation in filing the appeal before the Tribunal. We also place on record the submission made by learned counsel for the Revenue that there is already a bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal in Jodhpur and in urgent matters, if sitting is not taking place at Jodhpur, the matters are taken up at Jaipur. Be that as it may. Since objection of existence of alternative remedy has been raised by learned counsel for the Revenue, we direct that as soon as the appeal is filed by the petitioner before the jurisdictional bench of the Tribunal, the Tribunal shall ensure hearing of the said appeal within a period of seven days from the date of submission of the appeal along with the stay application.

Summary

Issues:
Petitioner aggrieved by assessment orders, jurisdictional issues, alternative remedy of appeal before Tribunal.

Analysis:
The High Court heard two writ petitions filed by the petitioner challenging assessment orders. Despite multiple grounds raised by the petitioner, the Court noted that jurisdictional issues were not raised during the assessment proceedings but were being raised post-assessment. The Court opined that all issues could be addressed through the appeal process before the Tribunal with territorial jurisdiction. The Court declined to entertain the writ petitions and directed the petitioner to pursue the remedy of appeal before the Tribunal. The Court decided that the period the writ petitions were pending would be excluded for the purpose of calculating the limitation for filing the appeal before the Tribunal.

The Court acknowledged the existence of an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal bench in Jodhpur and mentioned that urgent matters could be taken up at Jaipur if necessary. In response to the objection raised by the Revenue regarding the availability of an alternative remedy, the Court directed that once the petitioner files an appeal before the jurisdictional bench of the Tribunal, the Tribunal must ensure a hearing within seven days from the submission of the appeal along with the stay application. Consequently, the Court disposed of the writ petitions and the related stay applications, emphasizing the importance of utilizing the statutory remedy of appeal before the Tribunal for addressing the grievances raised by the petitioner.