Rule 52 - Application of Rules - Income-tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963

Application of Rules. [52. These rules shall apply mutatis mutandis to proceedings under all such Acts which provide for adjudication of disputes by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal.] NOTES The Appellate Tribunal has, vide F. No. 114-Ad(AT)/69, dated 13-4-1970, laid down the following guidelines for the guidance of the assessees and their representatives : 1. In all communications addressed to the Tribunal by the parties with regard to appeals or applications or cross-objections the number thereof, or, if the number is not known, the date of filing thereof, should invariably be given. Failure to furnish the information will cause avoidable correspondence and needless delay in answering correspondence. 2. An application for adjournment of the hearing should be made at the earliest possible time. If it could be presented personal ly, it should be done so. If it cannot be presented personally, a stamped envelope with the address of the assessee or his repre sentative should, as far as possible, accompany the application. If a reply is required telegraphically, the necessary postage stamps should accompany the application. If a telegram is sent asking for adjournment, arrangement should be made for a reply-paid telegram. The suggestion made in this paragraph is intended not so much as a measure of economy as a measure for greater efficiency. The Tribunal is not bound to reply to applications for adjournment. Replies will, however, be given as far as possi ble. Unless the assessee hears that his application for adjourn ment has been granted, he should remain present at the hearing of the appeal or application or cross-objection, as the case may be. 3. Whenever an appeal or application or cross-objection is filed which is connected with an appeal or application or cross-objection relating to the same party filed earlier, reference thereto should invariably be given with the latter appeal or application or cross-objection so that the various connected appeals or applications or cross-objections could be linked up together. This will be for the convenience of the parties them selves. If any practitioner wishes that appeals and applications and cross-objections relating to different assessees in which he is engaged should be taken up on the same of consecutive days, he should intimate to the Tribunal the particulars of these appeals and applications and cross-objections including the dates of filing thereof, well in advance. 4. An application for an early hearing for an appeal should invariably give detailed reasons why the assessee wants that his appeal should be given preference over the appeals made by other assessees. The application should also state whether or not the tax has been paid and, if so, to what extent. 5. An application for sending for the case of another assessee should also be made at the earliest possible opportunity. Cases will not ordinarily be sent for, for the purpose of making an assessment on the same basis in other cases. 6. Attention is invited to rule 10 of the Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1963. That rule provides that where a fact which cannot be borne out by or is contrary to record is alleged, it should be stated clearly and concisely and should be supported by a duly sworn affidavit. Complaints are at times made before the Tribunal that certain statements attributed to the assessees or their representatives were in fact not made. Unless rule 10 is complied with, it is not ordinarily possible to go outside the record. An application for time for filing an affidavit as required by rule 10 at the time of hearing of the appeal will not ordinarily be granted. The object of this suggestion is to save time in hearing and deciding appeals, applications and cross-objections. 7. If an appeal/reference application/cross-objection is barred by time, or if there are reasons for believing that it may be barred by time, an application for condoning the delay should be made well in advance before the hearing of the appeal/application/cross-objection. Such an application should ordinarily be supported by an affidavit and other documentary evidence, as for example, a medical certificate. 8. Three copies (typed, if possible) of the statements made by the assessee or the witnesses or of documents relied upon or of extracts of accounts, where necessary, should be produced at the time of the hearing of the appeal, application or cross-objection. As far as possible, all such documents and papers should be in English or translated into English. This suggestion has been accepted by many solicitors and auditors appearing before the Tribunal. This suggestion is intended to facilitate the hearing of the appeal, application or cross-objection. Ex tracts of accounts should, if possible, be certified by the assessee's representative or by any other reliable person and be in English. 9. Books of account should be kept handy at the time of hearing of the appeal, application or cross-objection. If books of ac count of the year preceding or succeeding year of account are relevant, they should also be kept handy. 10. Assessees should, as far as possible, be present at the hearing of the appeal, application or cross-objection. This suggestion is made entirely in the interest of the assessees. 11. It has been noticed that requests are made to block the appeals to await decision of the High Court or the Supreme Court in similar points involved in the appeals. In order to avoid multiplicity in proceedings, the Appellate Tribunal acceded to such request. It is, however, found that in many of such cases, the particulars of the case involving the identical points are not on record so as to find out whether that case has been disposed of by the High Court/the Supreme Court or not. This results in prolonging correspondence between the Tribunal and the parties causing long and avoidable delay in the disposal of those blocked appeals/applications/cross-objections. It is, therefore, suggested that an application for keeping the appeals/applications/cross-objections blocked should invariably furnish the particulars of the case pending with the High Court/the Supreme Court involving identical points for which the appeals or applications or cross-objections are sought to be blocked. The assessees and the depart mental representatives should inform the Tribunal about the disposal of the case by the High Court or the Supreme Court immediately after its disposal so as to enable the Tribunal to dispose of such blocked cases soon thereafter. In this connec tion, it may be made clear that the Tribunal is not bound to keep such appeals/applications/cross-objections blocked for indefinite periods. 12. Whenever any appeal against the penalty order passed by the IAC is filed, the appellant should invariably inform the Tribunal in the forwarding letter whether any quantum appeal pertaining to the same assessment year is pending before the AAC concerned. The Tribunal should be informed immediately after the disposal of the said quantum appeal by the AAC. If the said quantum appeal has already been disposed of by the AAC at the time of filing of the penalty appeal before the Tribunal, the date of filing of the quantum appeal before the Tribunal may be intimated to enable it to link both the appeals and post them for hearing on one date. In case no such quantum appeal is proposed to be filed before the Tribunal, the fact may be intimated to the Tribunal, so that the penalty appeal may be posted for hearing. Standing order under income-tax (APPELLATe TRIBUNAL) RULES, 1963 In pursuance of sub-rule (1) of rule 4 of the Income-tax (Appel late Tribunal) Rules, 1963, and in supersession of Standing Order No. 1 of 1987, dated the 17th July, 1987, as amended from time to time till date, it is hereby directed that subject to any special order, all appeals and applications from the Districts, States and Union Territories specified in Column 3 shall, with effect from 1st October, 1997, be heard and determined by the Benches specified in Column 2 of the Table below : S. No. Name Number of Bench(es) Districts/States/Union Territories (1) (2) (3) 1. Agra Bench (1) - Districts of Agra, Aligarh, Etah, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Firozabad, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahama yanagar, Mainpuri and Mathura of Uttar Pradesh. - Bhind, Datia, Guna, Gwalior, Morena and Shivpuri Districts of Madhya Pradesh. 2. Ahmedabad Benches (3) - Gujarat (excluding the Dis tricts of Amreli, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagarh, Kachchh, Rajkot and Surendernagar). - Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. - Territory of Daman of the Union Territory of Daman Diu. 3. Allahabad Bench (1) - Uttar Pradesh (excluding the districts of Agra, Aligarh, Bahraich, Barabanki, Basti, Badaun, Bareilly, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Etah, Etawah, Faizabad, Farrukha bad, Firozabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Gonda, Hardoi, Ja laun, Jhansi, Jyotiba Rao Phule Nagar, Kanpur (Rural), Kanpur (Urban), Lalitpur, Lucknow, Lakhimpur, Kheri, Mahamayanagar, Mainpuri, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffar Nagar, Pilibhit, Raibareilly, Rampur, Saharanpur, Seetapur, Shahjahanpur and Unnao). - Uttranchal (excluding the districts of Almo ra, Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pitho ragarh, Tehri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi). 4. Amritsar Bench (1) - Districts of Amritsar, Bhatinda, Faridkot, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Kapur thala of Punjab. - State of Jammu Kashmir. 5. Bangalore Benches (3) - Karnataka (excluding the Districts of Belgaum, Mangalore, Karwar and North Kanara). 6. Calcutta Benches (5) - West Bengal. - Sikkim - Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 7. Chandigarh Benches (2) - Punjab (excluding the Districts of Amritsar, Bhatinda, Faridkot, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Kapurthala). - Haryana (excluding the Districts of Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hissar, Jhajjar, Karnal, Mohindergarh, Pani pat, Rewari, Rohtak and Sonepat). - Himachal Pradesh. - Union Territory of Chandigarh. 8. Chennai Benches (4) - Tamil Nadu. - Union Territory of Pondicherry excluding Mahe. 9. Cochin Bench (1) - Kerala. - Union Territories of Lakshadweep, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands. - Mahe of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. 10. Cuttack Bench (1) - Orissa. 11. Delhi Benches (7) - National Capital of Territory of Delhi. - Districts of Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hissar, Jhajjar, Karnal, Mohindergarh, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak and Sonepat of Haryana. - Districts of Badaun, Bijnor, Bulandshahr, Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Jyotiba Rao Phule Nagar, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffar Nagar, Rampur and Saharanpur of Uttar Pra desh. - Districts of Almora, Chamoli, Dehradun, Harid war, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Tehri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi of Uttranchal. 12. Guwahati Bench (1) - Arunachal Pradesh. - Assam. - Manipur. - Meghalaya. - Mizoram. - Nagaland. - Tripura. 13. Hyderabad Benches (2) - Andhra Pradesh (excluding the Districts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur, Krishna, Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram). 14. Indore Bench (1) - Districts of Bhopal, Dewas, Dhar, Indore, Jhabua, Khandwa, Khargon, Mandsaur, Raisen, Ratlam, Sehore, Shajapur, Ujjain and Vidisha of Madhya Pradesh and Raj garh of Chhattisgarh. 15. Jabalpur Bench (1) - Madhya Pradesh (excluding the districts of Bhind, Bhopal, Datia, Dewas, Dhar, Guna, Gwalior, Indore, Jhabua, Khandwa, Khargon, Mandsaur, Morena, Raisen, Ratlam, Sehore, Shajapur, Shivpuri, Ujjain and Vidisha). - Chhattisgarh (excluding the districts of Ba star, Durg, Rajgarh, Rajnandgaon and Raipur). 16. Jaipur Bench (1) - Rajasthan (excluding the Districts of Banswara, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali, Rajsamand, Sirohi, Sriganganagar and Udaipur). 17. Jodhpur Bench (1) - Districts of Banswara, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dungarpur, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali, Rajsamand, Sirohi, Sriganganagar and Udaipur of Rajasthan. 18. Mumbai Benches (10) - Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Thane Districts of Maharashtra. 19. Nagpur Bench (1) - Akola, Amravati, Bhandara, Buldha na, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Nagpur, Wardha and Yeotmal districts of Maharashtra. - Districts of Bastar, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Raipur of Chhattisgarh. 20. Panaji Bench (1) - Goa. - Belgaum, Mangalore, Karwar and North Kanara districts of Karnataka. 21. Patna Bench (1) - Bihar and Jharkhand. 22. Pune Bench (1) - Maharashtra (excluding the Districts of Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Nagpur, Thane and Wardha). 23. Rajkot Bench (1) - Districts of Amreli, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagarh, Kachchh, Rajkot and Surendernagar of Gujarat. - Territory of Diu of the Union Territory of Daman Diu. 24. Vishakhapatnam Bench (1) - Districts of East Goda vari, West Godavari, Guntur, Krishna, Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram of Andhra Pradesh. 25. Lucknow (1) - The Districts of Barabanki, Bareilly, Basti, Bahraich, Faizabad, Gonda, Hardoi, Kanpur (Rural), Kanpur (Urban), Lucknow, Lakhimpur, Kheri, Pilibhit, Raibareilly, Shahjahanpur, Seetapur, Unnao. 2. All pending appeals and applications, except those in which orders have been reserved after hearing, will be governed by the above order. Appeals and applications already fixed for hearing will be heard by the Bench before which they are so fixed. 3. It is further directed that the reference applications, arising out of the orders passed by the Bench wherefrom the jurisdiction is transferred, shall be heard and decided by the Bench to which the jurisdiction now stands transferred. 4. The ordinary jurisdiction of the Bench will be determined not by the place of business or residence of the assessee but by the location of the office of the Assessing Officer. 5. All appeals and applications pertaining to the Rajkot, Panaji, Vishakhapatnam, Agra and Jodhpur Benches shall, however, be re ceived at the Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Delhi and Jaipur Bench es respectively till the abovesaid newly created Benches become functional. All such appeals and applications shall be separately registered/entered in the relevant registers, meant for these newly created Benches, and shall be handed over to the concerned Bench(es) as and when the said Bench(es) become(s) functional. Notification No. F. No. 63-Ad (AT)/97, dated 16-9-1997 as amended by Notification F. No. 63-Ad (AT)/2001, dated 19-10-2001 and No. F. No. 63-Ad(AT)/2001, dated 29-5-2001. Circuit Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal at Ranchi Notification one It was directed vide Notification No. F. 63-Ad (AT)/2001, dated the 20th August, 2001 (See Notification One) of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal that, subject to any special order, the ap peals and applications from the State of Jharkhand shall be heard and determined by a Circuit Bench at Ranchi/Jamshedpur during the 2nd fortnight of every alternative month, starting from Septem ber, 2001. 2. In this connection, it is hereby ordered that the exact location of the Circuit Bench of the Income-tax Appellate Tribu nal shall be at Ranchi. Specific address of the Circuit Bench shall be notified to all concerned, well in advance of the dates of hearing of Appeals and Applications. 3. It is further clarified and ordered that all appeals and applications pertaining to the State of Jharkhand shall be re ceived at the Circuit Bench at Ranchi during the periods when the Circuit Bench holds its sittings at Ranchi. Till permanent office accommodation is allotted to the Tribunal, the Appeals and Applications shall continue to be received at the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Patna during the periods when the above said Circuit Bench is not holding its hearings at Ranchi. Notification No. F. 63-Ad (AT)/2001, dated 14-9-2001. Notification two In exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (5) of section 255 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with sub-rule (1) of rule 4 of the Income-tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963 the undersigned hereby directs that, subject to any special order, the appeals and applications from the State of Jharkhand shall be heard and determined by Circuit Bench at Ranchi/Jamshedpur during the 2nd fortnight of every alternative month, starting from September, 2001. 2. Due notice regarding the location of the Circuit Bench and specific dates of hearing of the appeals/applications shall be given to all concerned in due course. 3. All appeals and applications pertaining to the State of Jhark hand shall also be received at the Circuit Bench. 4. The above order shall remain effective until further orders. Notification No. F. 63-Ad (AT)/2001, dated 20-8-2001.