Right of appeal under Income-tax law is confined to an aggrieved person where no tax demand survives after revision.

An appeal under the Income-tax Act lies only to a person aggrieved by the order appealed against. Where the revisional authority had set aside the assessments and no tax demand survived, with refund consequences following, the assessee suffered no legal grievance and could not claim a statutory right of appeal. The appeal under section 253(1) was therefore not maintainable, and the assessee was not an aggrieved person.

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Issues: Whether an assessee, whose assessments were set aside by the revisional authority and who was left with no further tax burden, was an aggrieved person entitled to file an appeal under section 253(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Analysis: The appellate remedy under the Income-tax Act is confined to a person aggrieved by the order appealed against. On the facts, the revisional order had set aside the assessments, with the practical consequence that no tax demand survived and refund consequences followed. In such a situation, the assessee could not be said to suffer any legal grievance in terms of tax liability. Since there is no inherent right of appeal and the statute permits an appeal only within its defined limits, the appeal was not maintainable.

Conclusion: The assessee was not an aggrieved person within section 253(1) and had no right of appeal; the appeals were incompetent and liable to be dismissed.

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