TMI Blog2008 (9) TMI 865X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assessee s claim for exemption under section 10(10C) amounting to Rs. 5 lakhs out of retirement payment from RBI was disallowed by the Assessing Officer. Upon the assessee s appeal, the learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) following the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai Bench decision in another case allowed the assessee s appeal. Against this order, the Revenue is in appeal before us. At the threshold, learned counsel for the assessee submitted that the tax effect in this case is below Rs. 2 lakhs being the monetary limit fixed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes for filing appeals before the Tribunal. Hence, learned counsel contended that this appeal by the Revenue is liable to be dismissed in limine on account of tax effec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and law, the Hon ble High Court had dismissed the Departmental appeals on tax effect, he prayed that the ratio emanating from the hon ble jurisdictional High Court be followed and this appeal by the Revenue should also be dismissed on tax effect. The learned Departmental representative, on the other hand, contended that the Central Board of Direct Taxes Instruction No. 2 dated October 24, 2005 was not produced before the hon ble High Court. He referred to clause No. (3) of the said Instruction which reads as under : The Board has also decided that in cases involving substantial question of law of importance as well as in cases where the same question of law will repeatedly arise, either in the case concerned or in similar case, shoul ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Sl. No. Appeals in income-tax matters Monetary limit (in Rs.) 1. Appeal before Appellate Tribunal 2,00,000 2. Appeal under section 260A before High Court 4,00,000 3. Appeal before Supreme Court 10,00,000 4. For this purpose, tax effect means the difference between the tax on the total income assessed and the tax that would have been chargeable had such total income been reduced by the amount of income in respect of the issue against which appeal is intended to be filed (hereafter referred to as disputed issues ). However, the tax will not include any interest thereon. Similarly, in loss cases notional tax effect should be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble, appeal is not being filed only on the consideration that the tax effect is less than the monetary limit specified in this instruction . Further, in such cases, there will be no presumption that the Income-tax Department has acquiesced in the decision on the disputed issues. The Income-tax Department shall not be precluded from filing an appeal against the disputed issues in the case of the same assessee for any other assessment year, or in the case of any other assessee for the same or any other assessment year, if the tax effect exceeds the specified monetary limits. 7. In the past, a number of instances have come to the notice of the Board, whereby an assessee has claimed relief from the Tribunal or the court only on the ground tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... specified in para 3 above will not apply to writ matters. 11. This instruction will apply to appeals filed on or after May 15, 2008. However, the cases where appeals have been filed before May 13, 2008 will be governed by the instructions on this subject, operative at the time when such appeal was filed. 12. This issue under section 268A(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. A perusal of the above reveals that Instruction No. 2 of 2005 dated October 25, 2005 relied upon by the learned Departmental representative has been very much referred to in the preamble of the abovesaid instruction and Instruction No. 5 has been issued in supersession of the above instructions including the said Instruction No. 2. Hence, there was no relevance of refe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itely and formally deprived of all authority. It becomes null and void, like a repealed statute, and a new principle is authoritatively substituted for the old. A refusal to follow a precedent, on the other hand, is an act of co-ordinate, not of superior, jurisdiction. Further, we note that the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai being the inferior, the Tribunal is subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the hon ble High Court of Madras under article 227 of the Constitution. The Tribunal is, therefore, bound by a decision of the hon ble High Court of Madras. We further find that the hon ble apex court in the case of Honda Siel Power Products Ltd. v. CIT [2007] 295 ITR 466 had reiterated that rule of precedent is an important a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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