Procedure of Appellate Tribunal - Section 255 - Income Tax - Ready Reckoner - Income Tax

Procedure of Appellate Tribunal - Section 255 The powers and functions of the Appellate Tribunal may be exercised and discharged by Benches constituted by the President of the Appellate Tribunal from among the members thereof. Constitute of Bench: A Bench shall consist of one judicial member and one accountant member. - The President or any other member of the Appellate Tribunal authorised in this behalf by the Central Government may, sitting singly, dispose of any case which has been allotted to the Bench of which he is a member and which pertains to an assessee whose total income as computed by the AO in the case does not exceed Rs. 50 lakh, and - the President may, for the disposal of any particular case, constitute a Special Bench consisting of 3 or more members, one of whom shall necessarily be a judicial member and one an accountant member. Decision, In case of differ in opinion - If the members of a Bench differ in opinion on any point, the point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority, if there is a majority, but if the members are equally divided, they shall state the point or points on which they differ, and - the case shall be referred by the President of the Appellate Tribunal for hearing on such point or points by one or more of the other members of the Appellate Tribunal, and - such point or points shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members of the Appellate Tribunal who have heard the case, including those who first heard it. Tribunal power to procedure - The Appellate Tribunal shall have power to regulate its own procedure and the procedure of Benches thereof in all matters arising out of the exercise of its powers or of the discharge of its functions, including the places at which the Benches shall hold their sittings. Power of Tribunal - - The Appellate Tribunal shall, for the purpose of discharging its functions, have all the powers which are vested in the income-tax authorities referred to in section 131 , and - any proceeding before the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 and for the purpose of section 196 of the Indian Penal Code, and - the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a civil court for all the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXXV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. CG to issue scheme for faceless Tribunal Appeal The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of disposal of appeals by the Appellate Tribunal so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by- - eliminating the interface between the Appellate Tribunal and parties to the appeal in the course of appellate proceedings to the extent technologically feasible; - optimizing utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation; - introducing an appellate system with dynamic jurisdiction. Notes:- If the assessee has moved an application for rectification u/s 254 within 4 years from the date of order, the Tribunal is bound to decide the application on the merits and not on the ground of limitation. Where the Tribunal took its own time to dispose of miscellaneous petition filed by the assessee for rectification order and passed said order after 4 years it was held that such application was well within the time as specified u/s 254(2) for the purpose of passing rectification order . [ CIT vs Sree Ayyanar Spinning and Weaving Mills Limited 2006 (12) TMI 120 - Madras High Court ]