Forum competence requires appeal to the Tribunal bench where the assessing officer is located; misfiled appeal is incompetent and dismissed.

The note addresses forum competence for appeals to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, stating the controlling principle that jurisdiction to entertain an appeal is governed by the seat/location of the assessing officer who issued the assessment order. Applying that rule, an appeal lodged before the Varanasi bench against an assessment order made by an assessing officer seated in Delhi is not competent. The operative effect is that such misfiled appeals should be dismissed for want of proper forum, and the revenue must prefer a fresh appeal before the Delhi benches, with a petition for condonation of delay if required.

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Issues: Whether the appeal filed by the revenue before the Varanasi bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is competent where the assessment order was passed by an assessing officer located in Delhi.

Analysis: The Tribunal examined the coordinate bench's interim view and the guidance of the Supreme Court in PCIT vs ABC Papers Limited that jurisdiction to entertain an appeal is determined by the location of the assessing officer who passed the assessment order. The record shows the assessing officer who passed the impugned assessment order was located in Delhi. The revenue filed the appeal before the Varanasi bench; the Tribunal considered the precedent authority and the Vice President's comment that the appeal may be disposed of as not filed at the proper place of jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The appeal filed by the revenue before the Varanasi bench is not competent and is dismissed on the ground that the proper forum is the Delhi benches of the Tribunal; the revenue may prefer a fresh appeal before the Delhi benches with a petition for condonation of delay, if so advised.

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