TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2011 (2) TMI 961
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....eads as under : "Both these appeals of the assessee are directed against the order of CIT(A), Agra dated 17-5-2005 relating to assessment years 1998-99 and 1999-2000. (2) The above noted cases were fixed for hearing on 30-10-2007. Nobody appeared on behalf of the assessee when the case was called for hearing. Earlier the cases were fixed for hearing on severed times but at the assessee's request the same were adjourned. There was also no communication or information as to why assessee remained absent on the above etc. It seems that assessee is not interested to pursue the matter. The laws aid those who are vigilant, not those who sleep upon their rights. This principle is embodied in well known dictum "vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt". Considering the facts and keeping in view the provisions or rule 19(2) of the Appellate Tribunal Rules, as were considered in 38 ITD 320 (Del.) in the case of CIT v. Multiplan India Ltd., we treat these appeals as un-admitted. (3) In the result, the appeals of the assessee are dismissed .. Sd. Sd. (H.L. Karwa) (D.C. Agrawal) Judicial Member Accountant Member Dated 30th October, 2007." In remain....
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....see. On 1-6-2006 adjournment was sought by learned counsel. Similar adjournment was sought by learned Counsel for the assessee on 6-12-2006 and 15-10-2007. In between adjournments were also done at the request of D.R. At present, application for adjournment was filed by Shri Amit Shukla,who was present in other constitution, indicates that the learned Counsel for the assessee is resorting to collective anbsenteeism on account of strike call given by them vide their letter dated 22-10-2007. We accordingly do not hold the reason for adjournment justified and reject the application. The appeal is dismissed for want of prosecution. 5. In the result, the appeal of the assessee is dismissed. 6. Order is pronounced in the open court on 19-11-2007. Sd. Sd. (H.L. Karwa) (D.C. Agrawal) Judicial Member Accountant Member Dated 22-11- 2007." 2. The facts and the pleas taken by the assessees in all the Miscellaneous Applications are similar and for the sake of convenience, we reproduce the contents of M.A. No. 34(Luc.)/2008 arising out of ITA No. 435(Luc.)/2007, order dated 22-11-2007: "Sir, The above named assessee/appellant most respectfully begs t....
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....ated by them that as per the above referred Miscellaneous Applications, the concerned assessees/applicants have pleaded for recall of the ex parte orders passed by the Hon'ble Bench precisely on the ground that each one of them was prevented by "sufficient cause" from prosecuting the appeals as above. The cause given is that the assessees/applicants had engaged Shri S.K. Garg, Advocate and Shri Rakesh Garg, Advocate for conducting the cases. However, due to call for absenteeism given by the members of various Bars of Lucknow, Kanpur, Bareilly and Allahabad and also for other unavoidable reasons, the Counsels could not become available to conduct the appeals on the dates fixed for hearing. In such situation, the assessees/applicants could not make alternative arrangement also, as no Counsel was available to accept the brief. It was also submitted that the Tribunal had inherent judicial power to set aside the ex parte order and making fresh opportunity of being heard to the party. In view of the above, it was submitted that the orders passed in above appeals may be set aside and the appeals be restored for hearing on merits. 5. Shri Anadi Verma, Sr. D.R. vide letter dated 24-9-....
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....t of his client by all fair and honourable means without regard to any unpleasant consequence to himself or to any other. Rule 24 lays down that an advocate shall not do anything whereby he abuses or takes advantage of the confidence reposed in him by his client. The rights and privileges of an advocate carry with them the corresponding duty not to abuse them. Thus when an advocate accepts a brief it is his bounden duty to attend to his client's interest with due diligence and if he fails to do so, he is likely to be dealt with for neglect and is also answerable to the client. If he is unable to attend when the case is called, he is bound to make some other arrangements for the proper representation of his client or the brief should be returned in good time. In short, the advocates owe a duty not only to their clients, but also to the court and are bound to co-operate with the court in the orderly administration of justice. Amongst various duties required to be discharged by the lawyers, one of the duties to the court is that an advocate shall maintain towards the court a respectful attitude bearing in mind that the dignity of the judicial office is essential for the survival of....
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.... opined that a pleader being an officer of the court is bound to submit to its authority and thus cannot join any action to boycott the court or a particular judge because of any grievance - real or alleged, whether touching the court or of political or other character. The pleader accepting the vakalatnama cannot divest himself of his duties arising from such acceptance without leave of the court. If he desires to discharge himself from a case, he must give his client reasonable notice of his intention. It is not difficult to realize that serious uncertainties and inconveniences might arise in the conduct of judicial proceedings if the appointment of a pleader made in writing and lodged in the court where the case was to be tried could be revoked without the knowledge and sanction of the Court. If the practitioner wants to withdrawn he must always give reasonable notice of his withdrawal from the case to his client Hoby v. Built [1832] 3 B and Ad 350 : 1 LJKB 121 : 110 ER 131; Harris v. Osburn [1834] 2 Cr. And M. 629 : 4 Tyr. 445-149 ER 912; Nicolls v. Wison [1843] 11 M. and W. 106 : 12 L.J. Ex. 26: 152 ER 734; Whitehead v. Lord [1852] 7 Ex. 691 : 21 L.J. Ex. 239: 19 L.T. 113 : 15....
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....nner and norms of this great and noble profession, Law, as Justice Holmes so aptly put it, is 'a calling of thinkers'. The weapon of the Bar has thus always been reason, and reason is never of more telling effect than when expressed with dignity wrapped in humility). A Division Bench of the same High Court has in Rajinder Singh v. Union of India [1993 (2) SLR 450] observed : What legal sanction the Association of Lawyers has to give call to the lawyers to go on strike is beyond our comprehension. The fear in the lawyers as is being projected by Mr. Saini, not to argue the case of being punished by the Association to go on strike or in other words to abstain from appearing in Court, has no legal basis. The functioning of the Courts in the matter of administration of justice is not to be regulated or controlled by the Association of lawyers, in the manner of giving calls to its members to go on strike and not to appear in Courts in their cases, which is not legal when such association of lawyers have no arrangement for providing work (judicial work) to its members for their livelihood, how such calls are given for strike by such association. Further comments can only be given a....
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....rs of the Bar are required to assert their just rights to be heard, without failings in respect to the Bench. They should be fearless and independent in the discharge of their duties. And in case if the advocate himself is improperly dealt with - he should vindicate the independence of the Bar. [Above submissions (from pages 1 to 7) are extracted from an article by Hon'ble Justice Pana Chand Jain (Retd.). His contribution is gratefully acknowledged.] One of the other leading authorities on the issue under question is the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in 113 Taxman 676. The facts of the case set out in para 3 of the said judgment (also reported in [2001] 1 SCC 118) read as under : The appellant Company was in occupation of a building as tenant at Barakhamba Road, New Delhi. A suit was filed against the appellant for eviction from the building and other consequential reliefs which was resisted by the appellant by raising various contentions. Issues in the suit were framed by the court and the case was posted to 26-8-1998 for trial. None of the advocates belonging to the firm of lawyers which was engaged by the appellant appeared in the court on the ....
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....l District Judge as well as the High Court cannot be taken exception to. When the advocate who was engaged by a party was on strike there is no obligation on the part of the court either to wait or to adjourn the case on that account. Time and again this Court has said that an advocate has no right to stall the court proceedings on the ground that advocates have decided to strike or to boycott the courts or even boycott any particular court. Vide U.P. Sales Tax Service Assn. v. Taxation Bar Assn. [1995] 5 SCC 716; K. John Koshy v. Dr. Tarakeshwar Prasad Shaw [1998] 8 SCC 624; Mahabir Prasad Singh v. Jacks Aviation [1999] 1 SCC 37 and Koluttumottil Razak v. State of Kerala [2004] 4 SCC 465. While concurring with Hon'ble Thomas, J., the other Hon'ble Judge of the Supreme Court Sethi, J. made observations, germane to the issue under question before this Tribunal. Generally strikes are anthiesis of progress, prosperity and development. Strikes by the professionals including the advocates cannot be equated with strikes undertaken by the industrial workers in accordance with the statutory provisions. The services rendered by the advocates to their clients are regulated by a contrac....
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....d that a pleader abstaining from appearing in the court without obtaining his client's consent and leaving him undefended, amounted to unprofessional conduct. In Mahabir Prasad Singh v. Jacks Aviation (P.) Ltd. it was observed (SCC p. 40, para 2) "2. Judicial function cannot and should not be permitted to be stonewalled by browbeating or bullying methodology, whether it is by litigants or by counsel. Judicial process must run its even course unbridled by any boycott call of the Bar, or tactics of filibuster adopted by any member thereof. High Courts are duty-bound to insulate judicial functionaries within their territory from being demoralized due to such onslaughts by giving full protection to them to discharge their duties without fear. But unfortunately this case reflects apathy on the part of the High Court in affording such protection to a judicial functionary who resisted, through legal means, a pressure strategy slammed on him in open court." It was further held (SCC pp. 43-44 paras 16-18) '16. If any counsel does not want to appear in a particular court, that too for justifiable reasons, professional decorum and etiquette require him to give up his engagement in....
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.... strikes on account of their action of sympathizing with the Bar and failing to discharge their legal obligation obviously under the threat of public frenzy and harassment by the striking advocates. The Hon'ble Court found itself in agreement with the submission of Shri M.N. Krishnamani, Senior Advocate that the courts were sympathizing with the Bar by not agreeing to dismiss the cases for default of appearance of the Striking advocates. The Hon'ble Judge expressed reservations with the observations of Thomas, J. that the courts had not been sympathizing with the Bar during the strikes or boycotts. Some courts might have conducted the cases even during the strike or boycott periods or adjourned due to helplessness for not being in a position to decide the lis in the absence of the counsel but majority of the courts in the country have been impliedly sympathizers by not rising to the occasion by taking a positive stand for the preservation of the high traditions of law and for continued restoration of the confidence of the common man in the institution of judiciary. The Hon'ble Judge wrote further that it is not too late even now for the courts in the country to rise from the slumbe....
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....aordinary situation. Drastic problems call for drastic measures. Hence the Hon'ble Tribunal is urged humbly, to dismiss the M.A. If the Hon'ble Tribunal does feel constrained to recall the order(s) concerned under rule 24 or 25, the recall may be made subject to such conditions and under such observations as are deemed in accordance with legal observations mentioned above, esp. by the Hon'ble Apex Court, and which uphold the sanctity and status of the Hon'ble ITAT. Submitted. Sd. Sr. D.Rs." 5.1 Vide letter dated 21-1-2011, Shri Anadi Verma, Sr. D.R. submitted another set of Written Submissions. For the sake of convenience, we reproduce the same verbatim as under : "Sub. : Written Submission; synopsis and final arguments- May it Please Your Honour In continuation of the earlier written submission filed in this miscellaneous application on 24-9-2009,the following submissions is made further : 1. The appeals filed by the assessees relating to above said MAs. have been dismissed in default either through the application of the judgment in the case of Multiplan India Ltd. (38 ITD 320) (Delhi) or they have been decided in absence of the appellant a....
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....gment are strongly relied upon. Further, a five Judge Bench of Hon'ble S.C. in the case of P. Rao (Decd.) v. State of T.N. [2002] 255 ITR 147 has ruled that "Legislative casus omissus cannot be supplied by judicial interpretative process" (head note). Strong reliance is placed on paras E to H of page 154 to paras A to F of page 155. In the case of Dharmendra Textiles Processors reported in 306 ITR 277 (SC) it has again been held that legislative casus omissus cannot be supplied by judicial interpretative process. In this regard strong reliance is placed on para 22 to para 25 of the judgment occurring on pages 301 and 302. In the instant case the language of rule 24 is plain and it is clear that the case of the appellant does not fall under rule 24. How to construe ex parte order? How then is the ex parte order to be construed? It is clear that this order passed by the Hon'ble Bench is an order within the confines of the very wide powers given to it under section 254 (1). Section 254(1) says that the Appellate Tribunal may, after giving both the parties to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, "pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit." Opportunity was clearly provided to....
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....ples laid down in a judgment are to be made in the context of the background facts of the case. This concept has been discussed in detail in a recent judgment of Delhi High Court (Full Bench) in the case of Lachman Dass Bhatia Hingwala (P.) Ltd. reported in 49 DTR (2011) 98 (Delhi) (FB). The scope of section 254(2) has also been discussed in this judgment. It has been held that an order can be recalled in its Entirety if (ITAT) is satisfied that prejudice has resulted Attributable to Tribunal's mistake, error or omission. Is this the case here? Covered matter In the last hearing, judgment of Hon'ble ITAT, Jabalpur was submitted before the Hon'ble Bench in the matter of Additional Director MPSEB v. TRO. This case was on the issue of strike by the Bar through boycott of a particular court. In this case an application under section 254(2) of the assessee was dismissed ex parte in view of the strike by the Bar. It has been argued that the legal aspects detailed in this judgment are pertaining to section 254(2), so not applicable here. This is incorrect. We have to appreciate facts resulting in the ratio of the judgment. The ratio of the judgment is whether ex parte dismissal on a....
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.... by the H.C Also powers of H.C. and S.C. are not even comparable to those of ITAT. The Tribunal is bound by confines of Appellate Tribunal Rules. In none of these cases, issue is pertaining to deliberate non-appearance by the counsels except the last named which is distinguishable on facts. Hence all these cases are distinguishable. Further none of the MAs are backed by an affidavit under rule 10 of Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1963. Hence the pleas thereon are ex parte statement of non-sworn facts and deserve to be ignored. The aspect of Multiplan applied cases or otherwise is of no significance since the MAs clearly indicate that non-prosecution of appeal was due deliberate abstinence of appearance. No reasonable cause thereof has been shown. Prayer 1. The MAs should be dismissed as non-maintainable in view of the legal position described in detail above since rule 24 does not apply. Section 254 (2) also does not apply. 2. Alternatively, if the above such prayer is not accepted and the Hon'ble Bench feels compelled to recall the orders then it may, subject to the approval of Hon'ble Bench, be subject to at least the following two con....
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....n 8-5-2000 :- "We tentatively propose to set aside the ex parte judgment on some terms, like payment of costs to the other side, because petitioner's counsel was absent in the trial court when the case was called as he was participating in the lawyers' strike. But it is difficult for us to mulct the petitioner with the cost portion as he is innocent. Hence we issue notice to M/s. Das Gupta & Co., Lawyers of Delhi, to show cause why the petitioner shall not be permitted to realize the said cost amount from the said advocates. ** ** ** 10. But the fact remains that the appellant was set ex parte due to the absence of the appellant and his counsel in the court when the case was taken up for hearing. In the Special circumstances of this case we are inclined to set aside the ex parte order dated 26-8-1998, on some terms. ** ** ** 15. Therefore, we permit the appellant to realize half of the said amount of Rs. 5,000 from the firm of advocates M/s. B.C. Das Gupta & Co., or from any one of its partners. Initially we thought that the appellant could be permitted to realize the whole amount from the said firm of advocates. However, we are inclin....
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.... 6.1 Shri Amit Shukla, Advocate, ld. Counsel for the assessee also submitted that strike by the Advocates or the reason for strike is not an issue before the Tribunal. On the other hand, the issue is as to whether the applicants should be allowed to suffer, on account of call for strike given by the Advocates and Chartered Accountants. Shri Amit Shukla, Advocate, pointed out that in the case of Ramon Services (P.) Ltd. (supra), the Hon'ble Apex Court itself has held that whatever may be the punishment given to the striking lawyers, the litigants should not suffer because of such strike, the ex parte order should be recalled. He also relied on the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Mangi Lal v. State of Madhya Pradesh [1994] 4 SCC 564. Shri Amit Shukla, Advocate, ld. Counsel for the assessee also referred to the judgment of the Hon'ble jurisdictional High Court in the case of Prayag Udyog (P.) Ltd. v. ITAT [2000] 245 ITR 288/[2001] 118 Taxman 68 wherein it was held that :- "An appeal under the Income-tax Act, 1961, has to be decided on the merits and can not be dismissed for default. A litigant should not be penalized for the default of his counsel." Reliance w....
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....as it thinks fit on the merits. It follows from the language of section 33(4) and in particular the use of the word "thereon" that the Tribunal has to go into the correctness or otherwise of the points decided by the departmental authorities in the light of the submissions made by the appellant. This can only be done by giving a decision on the merits on question of fact and law and not by merely disposing of the appeal on the ground that the party concerned has failed to appear. Rule 24 of the Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1946, as amended in 1948, insofar as it enables the dismissal of an appeal before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal for default of appearance of the appellant, clearly comes into conflict with section 33(4) and is therefore ultra vires." 6.5 Shri Amit Shukla, Advocate, ld. Counsel for the assessee submitted that following the above judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of S. Chenniappa Mudaliar (supra), it was held in a series of judicial pronouncements that rule 24, as the said Rule stood at the relevant time, was contrary to inherent power and jurisdiction of the Tribunal to set aside the ex parte order in the interest of justice. 6.6 In view ....
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....orth in the memo or appeal, then it is a mistake rectifiable by the Tribunal itself, in exercise of its powers under section 254(2). In support of this contention, following case laws were cited- (i) Laxmi Electronic Corpn. Ltd. v. CIT [1991] 188 ITR 398/54 Taxman 515 (All.), (ii) CIT v. K.M. Sugar Mills (P.) Ltd. [2005] 275 ITR 247 (All.), (iii) Honda Siel Power Products Ltd. v. CIT [2007] 295 ITR 466/165 Taxman 307 (SC), (iv) Lachman Dass Bhatia Hingwala (P.) Ltd. v. Asstt. CIT [2011] 330 ITR 243/196 Taxman 563/[2010] 8 taxmann.com 301 (Delhi) (FB), (v) CIT v. K.L. Bhatia [1990] 182 ITR 361/51 Taxman 436 (Delhi), Ms. Deeksha Suri v. ITAT [1998] 232 ITR 395/100 Taxman 573 (Delhi), Karan & Co. v. ITAT [2002] 253 ITR 131/[2001] 118 Taxman 473 (Delhi), J.N. Sahni v. ITAT [2002] 257 ITR 16/123 Taxman 569 (Delhi) and Smt. Baljeet Jolly v. CIT [2001] 250 ITR 113/[2000] 113 Taxman 38 (Delhi) - overruled. In view of the above, it was submitted by Shri Rakesh Garg, Advocate and Shri Amit Shukla, Advocate, the ld. Counsels for the assessee that in the interest of justice ex parte orders deserve to be recalled for....
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....ment given to the striking Lawyers, the litigants should not suffer because of such strike, the ex parte order should be recalled. The facts before the Hon'ble Supreme Court were that the appellants were tried before the First Additional Sessions Judge, Hoshangabad in Sessions Trial No. 30 of 1985 for offences under sections 147 and 307 of Indian Penal Code. On trial, they were convicted and sentenced as per the judgment dated 23-1-1986 as under. Rigorous imprisonment for one year each under section 147 of the Indian Penal Code, rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and fine of Rs. 500 each, in default of payment of fine, rigorous imprisonment for two months under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. Both sentences were directed to run concurrently. The appellant filed Criminal Appeal No. 117 of 1986 in the High Court. On 27-8-1993 the appeal came up before D.M. Dharmadhikari, J. It was adjourned since the lawyers at Jabalpur were on strike on that day. Thereafter the matter was listed on 11-10-1993. On that day also the lawyers were on strike. Therefore, the appeal was dismissed by the Hon'ble Madhya Pradesh High Court for want of prosecution. The appellants in that case preferred an....
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....ch men are loyal to the obligation with which they are entrusted. 7. Should the Judge take cognizance of the newspaper report and the reasons which prompted the advocates to seek transfer of the then Chief Justice? The learned Judge should not have let out his bile against the advocates who are free to hold any opinion as to the lapses committed by the then Chief Justice. Holding of such opinions can hardly be characterised as an unruly attitude on the part of the advocates. Such holding of opinions, nor again, would either obstruct or disturb the judiciary. If the learned Judge had the slightest compunction he should have rescued himself. 8. Therefore, we set aside the same and direct the appeal be restored to file and heard on merits." From the above it is clear that whatever may be punishment given to the striking Lawyers, the litigants should not suffer because of such strike, the ex parte order should be recalled. In that view of the matter, strike by the Advocates or the reason for strike is not an issue before us. Therefore, no findings are being given as to whether strike by Advocates and Chartered Accountants during the relevant period was justifiable or otherwise....
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....fessional misconduct. An Advocate being an officer of the court and thus bound to submit to its authority cannot join in an action to boycott the Court or a particular judge because of any grievance - real or alleged. In our considered view, the call given by Bar Association to boycott a Court or Tribunal should be condemned vigorously. It is also settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in number of judgments that absenting from Courts on a particular day in pursuance of a concerted movement on the part of the Lawyers to boycott a Court amounts to professional misconduct. In the case of S.J. Choudhary v. State (Delhi Administration) [1984] 1 SCC 722, the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that it is the duty of every Advocate, who accepts the brief in a criminal case, to attend the trial from day-to-day. Having accepted the brief, he will be committing a breach of his professional duty if he so fails to attend. Even the various High Courts of the country have condemned the strike or boycott of Courts by the Lawyers. It would be fruitful to refer to the decision of the Hon'ble Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of S. Maharaj Baksh Singh v. Charan Kaur AIR 1987 Punj. & Har. 213. In t....
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....ra 10 of the judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme court held as under : "10. But the fact remains that the appellant was set ex parte due to the absence of the appellant and his counsel in the court when the case was taken up for hearing. In the special circumstances of this case we are inclined to set aside the ex parte order dated 27-8-1998. on some terms." 9.1 We have also quoted the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mangi Lal (supra). In that case also, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that whatever may be the punishment given to the striking lawyers, the litigant should not suffer because of such strike, the ex parte order should be recalled. 10. Now, the question before us is whether the ex parte orders passed on different dates in above appeals should be recalled or not, if recalled, then under which provision of law or the Rules? 10.1 Firstly, we will refer to rule 24 of the Income-tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963, which reads as under : "Where, on the day fixed for hearing or on any other date to which the hearing may be adjourned, the appellant does not appear in person or through an authorised representative when the appeal is called on f....
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....ke such amendment if the mistake is brought to its notice by the assessee or the Assessing Officer : Provided that an amendment which has the effect of enhancing an assessment or reducing a refund or otherwise increasing the liability of the assessee, shall not be made under this sub-section unless the Appellate Tribunal has given notice to the assessee of its intention to do so and has allowed the assessee a reasonable opportunity of being heard." 10.4 Section 254(1) of the Act provides that the Tribunal may, after giving both the parties to the appeal, an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit. In the instant case, it is clear that no opportunity of being heard was provided to the assessees/applicants and the appeals were dismissed for want of prosecution. In fact, the Tribunal has not decided the appeals on merits. Section 254(2) of the Act provides that the Tribunal may, at any time, within four years from the date of order with a view to rectifying any mistake apparent from the record, amend any order passed by it under sub-section (1) and shall make such amendment if the mistake is brought to the notice by the assessee or the Assessing Off....
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....onsider a ground raised in the memorandum of appeal before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal is a mistake apparent from the record and the Tribunal would be justified in setting aside its order passed without doing so. Thus, ground Nos. 2, 3 and 4 raised in the memorandum of appeal ought to have been considered by the Tribunal while deciding the appeal and failing to do was a mistake apparent from the record which had crept in the order of the Tribunal. The Tribunal was, therefore, perfectly justified in recalling the order in exercise of powers under section 254(2) of the Act." (iii) In the case of Honda Siel Power Products Ltd. (supra), the Hon'ble Supreme Court held as under : "'Rule of precedent' is an important aspect of legal certainty in rule of law. That principle is not obliterated by section 254(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. When prejudice results from an order attributable to the Tribunal's mistake, error or omission, then it is the duty of the Tribunal to set it right. Atonement to the wronged party by the Court or the Tribunal for the wrong committed by it has nothing to do with the concept of inherent power to review. In the present case, the Tribunal was j....
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....the Tribunal to this aspect that the Tribunal while exercising the power of rectification under section 254(2) of the Act can recall its order in entirety if it is satisfied that prejudice has resulted to the party, which is attributable to the Tribunal's mistake, error or omission and which error is manifest error and it has nothing to do with the doctrine or concept of inherent power. 12. In view of the above discussion, particularly keeping in view the ratios laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the cases of Ramon Services (P.) Ltd. (supra) and Mangi Lal (supra) and also the decisions cited in paras 10.7(i) to 10.7(iv), we set aside the orders of the Tribunal passed in ITA No. l67 (Luc.)/2006 dated 31-10-2007, ITA Nos.575 & 576 (Luc.)/2005 dated 30-10-2007,ITA No. 149 (Luc.)/2008 dated 22-11-2007, ITA No. l361 (Alld.)/1997 dated 22-11-2007, ITA No. l372 (Alld.)/1997 dated 19-11-2007, ITA No. l371 (Alld.)/1997 dated 19-11-2007, ITA No. l326 (Alld.)/1997 dated 19-11-2007, ITA No. 262 (Alld.)/1999 dated 13-12-2007, ITA No. l387 (Alld.)/1997 dated 30-10-2007, ITA No. l388 (Alld.)/1999 dated 30-10-2007, ITA No. 241 (Luc.)/2007 dated 30-10-2007, ITA Nos. 174 (Alld.)/1997, 1623....