High Court dismisses Revenue's petitions challenging ITAT stay orders, emphasizes proper appeal process

The High Court of Gujarat dismissed the Revenue's petitions against orders of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench, granting stay against recovery. The Court held that the Revenue should have filed Tax Appeals under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act instead of challenging the Tribunal's orders through Writ Petitions, as the orders were related to Stay Applications and not Appeal decisions. The Court rejected the petitions, allowing the Revenue to pursue the statutory remedy of Appeal if desired.

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Issues Involved: Jurisdiction of High Court to entertain Writ Petitions challenging orders of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal instead of preferring Tax Appeals u/s 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Summary:
The High Court of Gujarat dismissed the petitions filed by the Revenue against orders made by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Ahmedabad Bench (A), granting stay against the recovery of imposition of certain conditions. The respondent-assessee raised a preliminary objection during the hearing, arguing that the petitioners should prefer Tax Appeals u/s 260A of the Income Tax Act instead of challenging the Tribunal's orders through Writ Petitions. The petitioners contended that the impugned orders were merely interlocutory. Upon examining the provisions of Section 260A of the Act, the Court noted that an Appeal lies against orders made by the Tribunal in Appeal, while the challenged orders were made in Stay Applications related to Appeals filed by the respondent-assessee before the Tribunal. Therefore, the Court accepted the preliminary objection and rejected the petitions without delving into the merits of the controversy, allowing the petitioners to avail the statutory remedy of Appeal if they choose to do so. The Court directed the Registry to place a copy of the order in all connected matters.

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