2018 (2) TMI 1526 - AT - Income Tax

Transfer of a case u/s 127 - Jurisdiction and powers of CIT(A) to decide the issue - Held that - An order passed u/s 127 is not appealable before the Ld. CIT(A). Since the first appellate authority has no jurisdiction to decide the validity or otherwise of an order passed u/s 127 transferring the jurisdiction from one Assessing Officer to another it is but natural that he cannot declare any order passed u/s 127 as invalid and consequently set aside the assessment order. CIT(A) crossed his jurisdiction in declaring the order u/s 127 of the Act as invalid and as a fortiori quashing the assessment. The impugned order is therefore overturned and the matter is restored to the file of Ld. CIT(A) for deciding the appeal on merits after allowing a reasonable opportunity of hearing to the assessee.

Summary

Issues Involved:
1. Validity of assessment order due to jurisdiction transfer under section 127 of the Income-tax Act.

Assessment Year 2004-05:
The issue in this appeal is the quashing of the assessment order by the Ld. CIT(A) based on the validity of the order passed under section 127 of the Act transferring jurisdiction. The assessee, a proprietor of a business, had jurisdiction transferred to a different circle due to a search operation. The Ld. CIT(A) set aside the assessment order as the competent authority did not grant an opportunity before transferring jurisdiction. The Tribunal noted that the power to transfer cases under section 127 lies with specific authorities. The CIT(A) has jurisdiction over certain appealable orders listed in section 246A, and the order under section 127 is not appealable before the CIT(A). Therefore, the Tribunal held that the CIT(A) exceeded jurisdiction in declaring the order under section 127 invalid and quashing the assessment. The matter was remitted to the CIT(A) for a fresh decision after providing a hearing to the assessee.

Assessment Years 2005-06, 2006-07, 2009-10 & 2010-11:
The issues in these appeals are similar to the Assessment Year 2004-05, where assessment orders were set aside by the Ld. CIT(A) due to the absence of a valid order under section 127 transferring jurisdiction. The Tribunal followed the decision for the 2004-05 assessment year and remitted all four appeals back to the CIT(A) for fresh consideration after granting a hearing to the assessee. Consequently, all appeals were allowed for statistical purposes.

In conclusion, the Tribunal addressed the validity of assessment orders based on jurisdiction transfer under section 127 of the Income-tax Act, emphasizing the specific authorities empowered to transfer cases and the limited scope of appealable orders before the CIT(A). The judgments highlighted the importance of following procedural requirements and ensuring jurisdictional compliance in assessment proceedings.