2008 (7) TMI 13 - HC - Income Tax

Appellant had raised the issue of jurisdiction in the writ petition and had made specific prayers with regard to the assessment proceedings - Tribunal disposed of the appellant s pending appeals without a reference to the pleas raised by the appellant with regard to jurisdiction pursuant to the liberty granted by this Court assessee s submission that he may be permitted to withdraw the present appeals with liberty to approach the Tribunal for rectification u/s 254(2), is accepted

Summary

Issues:
1. Jurisdictional challenge raised in writ petition.
2. Failure of Tribunal to decide on jurisdictional issue.
3. Appellant seeking withdrawal of appeals with liberty to approach Tribunal and Court.

Analysis:
The judgment by the High Court of Delhi pertains to four appeals involving a common assessee and common issues, all addressed in a single order. Initially, the appellant had filed a writ petition challenging the jurisdiction of the assessment proceedings under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The appellant was granted liberty by the Court to raise all relevant questions before the Tribunal after withdrawing the petition. This included the jurisdictional issue raised in the writ petition.

Subsequently, the appellant approached the Tribunal with an application to decide the jurisdictional issue as a preliminary matter. However, the Tribunal failed to address this application and disposed of the pending appeals without considering the jurisdictional challenge. Due to this, the appellant sought permission to withdraw the appeals with the liberty to approach the Tribunal under Section 254(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as the Tribunal had not decided on the jurisdictional issue despite the Court's grant of liberty.

The High Court granted the appellant permission to withdraw the appeals with the liberty to approach the Tribunal under Section 254(2) and also allowed the appellant to approach the Court if aggrieved by the Tribunal's decision on the jurisdictional matter. The appellant was further granted the liberty to raise the grounds taken in the present appeals before the Court in such a scenario. The judgment concluded with directions for the appellant to file a rectification application under Section 254(2) within four weeks, emphasizing the need for expeditious disposal by the Tribunal.