Exclusive Settlement Commission jurisdiction requires appeals to remain pending once a settlement application is admitted.

Once an assessee's settlement application is admitted under section 245C and permitted to proceed under section 245D, section 245F(2) gives the Settlement Commission exclusive jurisdiction over the case until an order under section 245D(4) is passed. During that period, appellate authorities cannot exercise parallel jurisdiction over the same matters. Because the case may also return under section 245HA(1), the proper course is to keep the appeals in abeyance rather than dismiss them finally on the basis of settlement admission alone. The Commissioner (Appeals) therefore lacked jurisdiction to dismiss the appeals and was required to keep them pending until the settlement proceedings concluded.

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Issues: Whether, after the assessee's settlement application was admitted by the Settlement Commission, the Commissioner (Appeals) retained jurisdiction to dismiss the assessee's appeals, or whether the appeals ought to have been kept in abeyance till the Settlement Commission passed an effective order.

Analysis: On admission of an application under section 245C and its being allowed to proceed under section 245D, section 245F(2) confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Settlement Commission to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the income-tax authorities in relation to the case until an order is passed under section 245D(4). During that period the appellate authority could not exercise parallel jurisdiction over the same matters. The possibility of the case being sent back under section 245HA(1) also made it appropriate to keep the appeals pending rather than dispose of them finally on the premise of settlement admission alone. Since the Commissioner (Appeals) did not decide the appeals on merits, the proper course was to hold the matters in abeyance until the settlement proceedings were concluded.

Conclusion: The Commissioner (Appeals) lacked jurisdiction to dismiss the appeals after the settlement application had been admitted, and the appeals were required to be kept in abeyance pending the Settlement Commission's effective order.

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