2017 (8) TMI 126

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..... No. 417 of 2016 3. This order shall dispose of I. T. A. Nos. 417 and 418 of 2016 as learned counsel for the parties have agreed that identical issue is involved in both the appeals. However, the facts are being extracted from I. T. A. No. 417 of 2016. 4. The appellant-assessee has filed the instant appeal under section 260A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (in short, "the Act") against the order dated June 1, 2016, annexure P.3, passed under section 254(1) of the Act by the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Chandigarh "SMC" Bench, Chandigarh (in short, "the Tribunal") in I. T. A. No. 422/Chd/2016, for the assessment year 2008-09, claiming the following substantial questions of law : "(i) Whether on the facts and in the circumstance....

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....me under the minimum alternate tax (MAT) at Rs. 96,28,336 under section 115JB of the Act. The assessee was having income from sale of its flats, which was exempt under section 80- IB(10) of the Act. The deduction under the said section was allowed to the assessee. The assessee claimed that the provisions of section 115JB of the Act were not applicable. The claim of the assessee that by virtue of section 115JB(6) of the Act, it was not entitled to pay the tax under the MAT provisions, was rejected by the Assessing Officer. Aggrieved by the order, the assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) (CIT(A)). Vide order dated February 10, 2016, annexure P.2, the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) dismissed the appeal....

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....isions of section 255 of the Act. Under sub-section (1) of section 255 of the Act, the President of the Appellate Tribunal is empowered to constitute Benches from among the members to exercise the powers and functions of the Appellate Tribunal. Sub-section (2) of section 255 of the Act provides that subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (3), the Bench shall be constituted with the composition that it would have one Judicial Member and one Accountant Member. Under sub-section (3) of section 255 of the Act, the President or any other Member of the Appellate Tribunal is authorised to adjudicate appeals sitting singly which have been allotted to the Bench pertaining to an assessee whose total income as computed by the Assessing Off....

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....puted by the Assessing Officer in the case does not exceed fifty lakh rupees and the President may, for the disposal of any particular case, constitute a Special Bench consisting of three or more members, one of whom shall necessarily be a judicial member and one an accountant member . . ." 12. It requires to be mentioned here that the Legislature has used the term "computed" in contradistinction to the word "assessed" in sub-section (3) of section 255 of the Act. In the present case, the income of the assessee was assessed by the Assessing Officer at Rs. 12,74,720 but was computed under the MAT provisions at Rs. 96,28,336 under section 115JB of the Act which was much above the limit prescribed under sub-section (3) of section 255 of the....