Monetary limit for tax appeals: penny stock exception under later CBDT instructions was held non-retrospective.

CBDT Circular No. 17/2019's monetary limit applied to pending and fresh appeals, and the later penny stock exception in Circular No. 23/2019 and Office Memorandum dated 16.09.2019 was held not to operate retrospectively. Applying the Gujarat High Court view cited before it, the Tribunal treated the exception as available only to appeals filed on or after 16.09.2019. As the Revenue's appeal had been filed earlier and the tax effect was below the prescribed limit, the exception could not be invoked and the appeal was not maintainable.

---

---

Issues: Whether the Revenue's appeal, involving tax effect below the monetary limit prescribed by CBDT Circular No. 17/2019, was saved by the exception introduced by CBDT Circular No. 23/2019 and Office Memorandum No. 279 dated 16.09.2019 in cases relating to bogus short term capital loss through penny stock.

Analysis: The monetary limit under CBDT Circular No. 17/2019 applied to pending as well as fresh appeals. The later circular and office memorandum carved out an exception for penny stock cases, but the applicable view was that those instructions did not operate retrospectively. Following the Gujarat High Court decisions cited before it, the Tribunal held that the exception was available only to appeals filed on or after 16.09.2019. Since the present appeal had been filed earlier and the tax effect was admittedly below the prescribed limit, the exception could not be invoked.

Conclusion: The Revenue's appeal was not maintainable and was dismissed as withdrawn.

---