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TMI Blog2010 (4) TMI 14X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... visions of Section 253(1)(b) of 1961 Act; that while Section 253(1) was an enabling provision giving right of appeal to the assessee to file an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, there was no provision similar to Section 249(4)(a), which fell in Chapter XX(A) in Section 253(1)(b), hence, it was not a condition mandatory to the filing of the appeal to the Appellate Tribunal to pay undisputed tax amount as condition precedent – held that - . It is for the Parliament to specifically say that no appeal shall be filed or admitted or maintainable without the assessee(s) paying the admitted tax due. That has been done only in the case of an appeal under Section 249(4)(a) of 1961 Act. We cannot read such a dis-enabling provision into Section 253(1)( ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... payable by the assessee in terms of his Block Returns. Before the Appellate Tribunal, the assessee objected to the above contention of the Department on the ground that Section 249(4) of 1961 Act cannot be read into Section 253(1)(b) which deals with the Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal and which falls in Chapter XX(B). According to the assessee, Section 249, which deals with Appeals to the Commissioner (Appeals), falls in Chapter XX(A), whereas Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal under Section 253(1)(b) falls in Chapter XX(B). After going through the provisions of Section 249(4)(a) and Section 253(1)(b) of 1961 Act, which, at the relevant time, dealt with an order passed by the Assessing Officer under Section 158BC(c) of 1961 Act, the Appel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iod prior to 1st October, 1998. 4. None appears for the assessee, though served. 5. The basic argument advanced by Shri V. Shekhar, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the Department, before us, was that Section 249(4), inter alia, states that no appeal under this Chapter [i.e., Chapter XX] shall be admitted unless at the time of filing of the appeal, the assessee has paid the admitted tax due on the income returned by him. According to the learned counsel, the present case is covered by Section 249(4)(a) of 1961 Act inasmuch as the assessee, in the present case, did file his Block Return in which he declared his undisclosed income of Rs.26,47,800/-. The assessee, as stated above, however, paid only Rs.22,63,600/- and not the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... At the outset, we may reiterate that, in these civil appeals, we are concerned with the period prior to 1st October, 1998. This judgment is confined strictly to the Block Period 1986-1987 to 14th September, 1995. 7. Chapter XX deals with "Appeals and Revisions". Chapter XX is divided into Headings `A' to `F'. Section 246 enumerates a list of Orders of the Assessing Officer against which appeal(s) would lie. In that list of Orders, an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under Section 253(1) is not mentioned. This is a very important indicia to show that each Heading in Chapter XX deals with a different subjectmatter and one cannot read the words in Chapter XX(A) into the words used in Chapter XX(B). Chapter XX(A) deals with Appeals to the De ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Section 253(1)(b) which is there in Chapter XX(B). Further, under the Scheme of Chapter XX, as stated above, no appeal under Section 249(4)(a) in Chapter XX(A) was admissible without the assessee having paid the admitted tax due on the income returned by him. It appears that once Section 249(4)(a) is treated as a mandatory condition for filing an appeal before Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) and once that condition stood satisfied at the time of his filing an appeal to Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), then, there was no necessity for the assessee to once again pay the admitted tax due as a condition precedent to his filing the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal under Section 253(1)(b) of 1961 Act. Lastly, one must keep in mind ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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