2012 (10) TMI 760 - AT - Income Tax

Rectification of mistake - Self-contradictory order of CIT(A) s - rejection of appeal by CIT(A) and giving directions given by the CIT(A) to AO - Held that - When in the opinion of the CIT (A) the appeals are not maintainable against the order u/s 200A and the appeals have been dismissed by him as not maintainable, there is no question of giving effect to the order of CIT (A) that A.O.should give appeal effect to these orders within two months of the receipt of the order. As in the grounds of appeal, the assessee has pointed out that there were certain mistakes committed by the A.O. while taking the view that there was delay in deposit of TDS where he submitted that there is no delay in the deposit of the TDS by the assessee. Thus in view of the above, the proper course for the assessee would have been to file the rectification petition under Section 154 requesting the AO to modify the order passed u/s 201(1A).

Summary

Issues:
Appeal against CIT (A)'s order being perverse and erroneous, maintainability of appeals against order u/s 200A of the IT Act, contradictory directions by CIT (A), rectification petition under Section 154 for modifying order u/s 200A.

Analysis:
The Appellate Tribunal ITAT, Delhi dealt with eight appeals filed by the department challenging the order of the CIT (A) dated 08.06.2012 in the cases of different assesses. The department contended that the CIT (A)'s order was perverse and erroneous as he dismissed the appeal of the deductor assessee, stating that the order passed by the Assessing Officer u/s 200A of the IT Act, 1961 was not appealable u/s 246A, yet directed the Assessing Officer to rectify mistakes in the order within two months. Despite non-appearance of the assessees, the Tribunal proceeded ex parte as the issues could be decided without their presence.

During the hearing, the department argued that the CIT (A)'s order was self-contradictory as he held the order of the Assessing Officer not appealable under section 246A but also directed for appeal effect within two months. The Tribunal referred to a previous decision in the case of "M/s Air India Limited" and observed that when the CIT (A) deems appeals not maintainable against the order u/s 200A, there is no question of giving effect to his order. The Tribunal upheld the CIT (A)'s decision that the appeals were not maintainable, expunged the direction for appeal effect, and advised the assessee to file a rectification petition under Section 154 for modifying the order passed u/s 200A.

Consequently, the Tribunal dismissed the department's appeals deeming them allowed for statistical purposes, following the directions given in a previous case. The Tribunal's decision was based on the principle that appeals against orders u/s 200A are not maintainable, and rectification petitions under Section 154 should be filed for correcting mistakes in such orders.