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TMI Blog2019 (9) TMI 303X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o withdraw / not press Revenue s appeal with tax effect below revised / enhanced limit of ₹ 50, 00, 000/-. By necessary implication, therefore, all existing appeals in ITAT, having tax effect below the revised / enhanced limit of ₹ 50, 00, 000/-, are to be treated as withdrawn / not pressed; and are, not maintainable. - ITA No:- 5432/Del/2015, ITA No:- 3955/Del/2015, ITA No:- 5879/Del/2015, ITA No:- 2574/Del/2015, ITA No:- 5297/Del/2016, ITA No:- 755/LUC/2005, C.O. No.-05/LUC/2006, ITA No:- 07/LUC/2006, C.O. No.-25/LUC/2006 And ITA No:- 77/LUC/2006 - - - Dated:- 29-8-2019 - SHRI H.S. SIDHU, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND SHRI ANADEE NATH MISSHRA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER C.O. No.-38/LUC/2006, ITA No:- 3517/Del/2015, ITA No:- 4600/Del/2016, ITA No:- 4188/Del/2014 AND ITA No:- 5369/Del/2015 For The Revenue : Shri Anil Kumar Sharma, Sr. DR For The Assessee : Shri Percy J. Pardiwala, Sr. Adv., Shri Devashish Mahrotra, Adv. and Shri Hardeep Singh, CA And Shri Deepesh Garg, Adv CONSOLIDATED ORDER Per Anadee Nath Misshra, AM ( A) The aforementioned appeals by Revenue an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) of Central Board of Direct Taxes (the Board) and its amendment dated 20th August. 2018 vide which monetary limits for filing of income tax appeals by the Department before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. High Courts and SLPs/appeals before Supreme Court have been specified. Representation has also been received that an anomaly in the said circular at para 5 may be removed. 2. As a step towards further management of litigation. it has been decided by the Board that monetary limits for filing of appeals in income-tax cases be enhanced further through amendment in Para 3 of the Circular mentioned above and accordingly, the table for monetary limits specified in Para 3 of the Circular shall read as follows: S. No. Appeals/SLPs in IT matters Monetary Limit (Rs.) 1. Before Appellate Tribunal 50, 00, 000/- 2. Before High Court 1, 00.00.000/- 3. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as under: The Circular will apply to SLPs/appeals/cross objections /references to be filed henceforth in Hon'ble Supreme Court/Tribunal and it shall also apply retrospectively to pending SLPs/appeals/cross objections/references. Pending appeals below the specified tax limits in para 3 above may be withdrawn/not pressed. ( B.1.2) Now, vide its aforesaid recent Circular No. 17/2019 Dated 08.08.2019, CBDT has amended its aforesaid earlier Circular No.3/2018 dated 11.7.2018; and it has been directed that monetary limit for filing the Departmental appeal in Income Tax Cases be enhanced further and accordingly, the monetary limit for filing the appeal before the Appellate Tribunal have been enhanced to ₹ 50 lakhs through amendment of paragraph 3 of aforesaid Circular No. 3/2018 dated 11.07.2018. Aforesaid Circular No.17/2019 Dated 08.08.2019 has been issued to revise / enhance the monetary limit of tax effect to ₹ 50, 00, 000/- as compared to the monetary limit of ₹ 20, 00, 000/- vide CBDT s earlier Circular No. 3/2018 dated 11.7.2018; without, however, in any way amending any other material part of the aforesaid CBDT Ci ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... are broadly in support of the orders passed by the Commissioner (Appeals). In these cases, in the light of the discussions with the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Gujarat) and representatives of the Ahmedabad ITAT Bar Association, individual notices are dispensed with; notices of hearing are given only through the notice board. 2. It is in this backdrop that we are pleased to take note of a very pragmatic and taxpayer friendly policy decision by the Government of India for reducing the income tax litigation. Vide CBDT circular dated 8th August, 2019, the income tax department has further liberalized its policy for not filing appeals against the decisions of the appellate authorities in favour of the taxpayers, wherein tax involved is below certain threshold limits, and announced its policy decision not to file, or press, the appeals, before this Tribunal, against the appellate orders favourable to the assessee in the cases in which overall tax effect, excluding interestexcept when interest itself is in dispute, is ₹ 50, 00, 000 or less. What it means, in plain words, is that when a Commissioner (Appeals) gives the taxpayer tax relief of upto ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is sentence gives an impression that is only after the date of the said circular that the departmental appeals will not be filed in the cases within the specified tax effect limits. We are urged to bear in mind the impact of this observation while giving effect to the circular dated 8th August, 2019. She. however, hastens to add that she is yet to have any specific instructions on the issue and she leaves it for the bench to take the appropriate call. Learned representatives appearing for the taxpayers vehemently oppose the suggestion implicit in her submissions. All of them are unanimous in their argument that the circular must be held to have retrospective application and must equally apply to the pending appeals as well Shri J P Shah. Senior Advocate, points out that the circular dated 8'h August 2019 i^ not a standalone circular and it is required to be read with the old circular no. 3 ot 2018 which is what it seeks to modify. This circular, according to the learned counsel, only enhances the monetary limits and gives further relaxation. He urges us not to read the circular in a manner so as to nullify the underlying approach and object of reducing litigation. Shri Soparkar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... est of hesitation in holding that the concession extended by the CBDT not only applies to the appeals to be filed in future but it is also equally applicable to the appeals pending for disposal as on now. Our line of reasoning is this. The circular dated 8, h August 2019 is not a standalone circular. It is to be read in conjunction with the CBDT circular no 3 of 2018 (and subsequent amendment thereto), and all it does is to replace paragraph nos. 3 and 5 of the said circular. This is evident from the following extracts from the circular dated 8th August 2019: 2. As a step towards further management of litigation, it has been decided by the Board that monetary limits for filing of appeals in income-tax cases be enhanced further through amendment in Para 3 of the Circular mentioned above and accordingly, the table for monetary limits specified in Para 3 of the Circular shall read as follows: S. No. Appeals/SLPs in Income- tax matters Monetary Limit (Rs.) 1 Before Appel late Tribunal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... relaxation in monetary limits for departmental appeals, vide CBDT circular dated 8th August 2019 (supra) shall be applicable to the pending appeals in addition to the appeals to be filed henceforth. ( B.2.1) Moreover, in the following precedents, Co-ordinate Benches of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Delhi; have already taken the view that the aforesaid CBDT Circular no. 17/2019 dated 08.08.2019 shall also apply retrospectively to pending appeals: ( i) Order dated 21.08.2019 of A Bench of ITAT, Delhi in ITA No. 5416/Del/2015 and 6 others for A.Y. 2011-12, in the case of ITO vs. M/s P.L. Sons Infrastructure (P) Ltd. and 6 other appeals ( ii) Order dtd. 19/08/2019 of B Bench of ITAT, Delhi, in ITA No. 4497/Del/2016 for A.Y. 2011-12 in the case of ITO vs. M/s BSA Homes Pvt. Ltd. ( iii) Order dtd 19/08/2019 of C Bench of ITAT, Delhi, in ITA No. 4276/Del/2016, for A.Y. 2012-13 in the case of ACIT vs. Isham System (P) Ltd. ( iv) Order dtd 19.08.2019 of E Bench of ITAT, Delhi in ITA No.- 5230/Del/2011 for A.Y. 2004-05 Delhi in the case of ACIT vs. M/s Majes ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 79/Misc/M-93/2018-ITJ Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes ********** Room No. 12, 5th Floor, Jeevanvihar Building, Parliament Street, New Delhi. Dated the 20th August, 2019. To, All Pr. Chief Commissioners of Income Tax Sub: Withdrawal of Pending cases after Enhancement of Monetary Limits matter reg; Ref. Circular No. 17/2019 dated 8th August, 2019 (F.No. 279/Misc. 142/2007- ITJ(Pt) and Circular No. 3 of 2018. Sir, Kindly refer to the aforesaid subject. Representations have been received from the field, seeking clarifications on applicability of Circular 17 of 2019 on pending appeals. 2. In this regard, it is stated that Circular 17 of 2019 relaxes the monetary limits as mentioned in the table there in and all other paras, except para 5 of Circular 3, relating to composite orders shall be applicable in toto. 3. Therefore, it is clear that the revised ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... filed by Revenue are held to be not maintainable, and are treated as withdrawn / not pressed by Revenue; and are, accordingly dismissed in view of aforesaid CBDT Circular dated 08.08.2019. We clarify that Revenue will be at liberty to approach Income Tax Appellate Tribunal U/s 254(2) of Income Tax Act, 1961 seeking partial recall of this order and, for restoration of such appeal(s), if any, in which it is found that appeal(s) of Revenue is / are not covered by aforesaid CBDT Circular dated 08.08.2019. This decision was orally pronounced in Open Court after conclusion of hearings on the respective dates. ( C) Learned Counsel for the Assessee in the cases of Sahara India Ltd. did not press Cross Objections vide CO Numbers 05/LUC/2006, 25/LUC/2006 and 38/LUC/2006 as the same have become infructuous on dismissal of the corresponding Departmental Appeals. Accordingly, these Cross Objections are, therefore, hereby dismissed being infructuous and not pressed by the assessee. ( D) In the result, all these appeals filed by Revenue are dismissed, and the aforesaid three Cross Objections are also dismissed, for statistical purposes. Our decision was ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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