TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (10) TMI 1119
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ating the proceedings u/s 153C of the Income Tax Act. 3. The appellant craves leave for reserving the right to amend, modify, alter, add or forego any ground(s) of appeal at any time before or during the hearing of this appeal." C.O. No.- 364/Del/2015 "1. On the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the addition of Rs. 30,00,000/- made by the assessing officer on account of alleged unexplained cash credits is beyond the scope jurisdiction provisions of section 153C read with section 153A of Income Tax Act, 1961. The respondent craves leave to add, alter, modify or delete one or more ground before or at the time of hearing of appeal. The aforesaid grounds are without prejudice to each other." (B) At the outset, at the time of hearing before us, we referred to the recent Central Board of Direct Taxes ("CBDT" for short) Circular No. 17/2019 dated 08.08.2019 in F.No. 279/Misc. 142/2007-ITJ (Pt.) wherein minimum threshold limit of tax effect for filing of appeals by Revenue in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal ("ITAT", for short) has been enhanced to Rs. 50,00,000/- by revising the earlier CBDT Circular No. 3 of 2018, dated 11.07.201....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... assessment year vis-a-vis where composite order for more than one assessment years is passed. para 5 of the circular is substituted by the following para: "5. The Assessing Officer shall calculate the tax effect separately for every assessment year in respect of the disputed issues in the case of every assessee. If, in the case of an assessee, the disputed issues arise in more than one assessment year, appeal can be filed in respect of such assessment year or years in which the tax effect in respect of the disputed issues exceeds the monetary limit specified in para 3. No appeal shall be filed in respect of an assessment year or years in which the tax effect is less than the monetary limit specified in para 3. Further, even in the case of composite order of any High Court or appellate authority which involves more than one assessment year and common issues in more than one assessment year, no appeal shall be filed in respect of an assessment year or years in which the tax effect is less than the monetary limit specified in para 3. In case where a composite order/ judgement involves more than one assessee. each assessee shall be dealt with separately." 4. The said....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....icable. Therefore, all the provisions of aforesaid earlier Circular No. 3/2018 dated 11.7.2018 shall apply mutatis mutandis to recent aforesaid CBDT Circular No. 17/2019 dated 08.08.2019 also. Accordingly, the direction in aforesaid earlier Circular dated 11.07.2018 to withdraw / not press Revenue's appeal with tax effect below Rs. 20,00,000/-; in view of recent aforesaid Circular dated 08.08.2019; is now to be read as direction to withdraw /not press Revenue's appeal with tax effect below revised / enhanced limit of Rs. 50,00,000/-. (B.2) For our aforesaid view expressed in the foregoing paragraph (B.1.2) of this order; we take strength from a recent precedent in the case of Income Tax Officer, Ward 3(2), Ahmadabad vs. Dinesh Madhavlal Patelin (ITA No.- 1398/Ahd/2004 for Assessment Year 1998-99), and 627 others; in which, vide order dated 14.08.2019, of 'A' Bench of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Ahmadabad [ Coram: Justice P P Bhatt, President, and Sri Pramod Kumar, Vice President] it was held, at paragraph 7 of the aforesaid order dated 14/08/2019, that relaxation in monetary limits for departmental appeals, vide CBDT circular dated 8th August 2019 (supra) shall be applicable ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....upto Rs. 2 crore to the taxpayer in an appeal in an assessment year, that relief cannot be challenged before Hon'ble Supreme Court. These monetary threshold limits for filing of appeals by the income tax authorities do not take into account interest and other corollaries of the tax demands being confirmed such as penalties, except when a penalty itself is subject matter of litigation, and prosecutions. The enhancement of these monetary limits is at an unprecedented scale. The monetary limit for appeals before this Tribunal, which was Rs. 3,00,000 till 10th July 2014, has been in effect enhanced to almost 1,700% in the last five years. This substantial relaxation is certainly a huge step which signifies trust reposed by the Government of India in the decisions of the appellate forums, and substantially cuts down time taken in the finality of the appellate process. It is indeed heartening to note that in one stroke, the Government has not only prevented, but has. in effect, set the stage for withdrawal of thousands of appeals before this Tribunal and before Hon'ble Courts above. In an environment in which retrospectivity was attached only to the taxation and not to tax reliefs or con....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....gives further relief not only in terms of the monetary limits but also in terms of the manner in which the application of circular to orders dealing with more than one year is to made. Shri S N Divetia, learned counsel for the assessee, submits that unlike in the cases of earlier CBDT circulars, which used to be in supersession of earlier circulars on the issues, the circular dated 8th August 2019 only modifies the earlier circular which, inter alia, provided for its retrospective application. Our attention is invited to some judicial precedents in support of the contention that the benevolent circular, such as the one in question, is to be given effect in respect of the pending appeals as well. Ms Urvashi Shodhan. learned counsel for the assessee, points outs that its plainly contrary to the scheme of the litigation policy of the Government of India to give this circular only prospective effect. Shri S K Sadhwani, learned counsel for the assessee, invites our attention to the letter dated 16th July 2018 issued by Member CBDT to the all the Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax, in the context of circular dated 11th July 2018 that the present circular seeks to modify, seeking....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....can be fi led in respect of such assessment year or years in which the tax effect in respect of the disputed issues exceeds the monetary limit specified in para 3. No appeal shall he filed in respect of an assessment year or years in which the tax effect is less than the monetary limit specified in para 3 Further, even in the case of composite order of any High Court or appellate authority which involves more than one assessment year and common issues in more than one assessment year no appeal shall be filed in respect of an assessment year or years in which the tax effect is less than the monetary limit specified in para 3. In case where a composite order/judgement involves more than one assessee, each assessee shall be dealt with separately" 4. The said modifications shall come into effect from the date of issue of this Circular. 6. Clearly, all other portions of the circular no. 3 of 2018 (supra) have remained intact. The portion which has remained intact includes paragraph 13 of the aforesaid circular which is as follows: 13. This Circular will apply to SLPs/ appeals/ cross objections/ references to be fi led henceforth in SC/HCs/Tribunal and it shall....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... out of impugned final judgment and order dated 06-02-2019 in ITA No. 1650/2016 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay) (ii) Special Leave Petition (Civil) Dairy No. 26373/2019 in the case of DCIT vs. EB Holding Company Ltd. (Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 25-01-2019 in WP No. 3642/2018 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay) (iii) Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No. 21497/2019 in the case of Pr. CIT vs. Keshav Power Ltd. (Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 07-09-2018 in ITA No. 277/2018 passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi) (iv) Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No. 25076/2019 in the case of Pr. CIT vs. Meenakshi Modi. (Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 24-01-2019 in DBITA No. 156/2018 passed by the High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan at Jodhpur) (B.2.3) Moreover, vide F. No. 279/Misc/M-93/2018-ITJ, dated 20th August, 2019; clarification has been issued by CBDT that revised monetary Limits mentioned in Circular No. 17/2019 is applicable to all pending SLPs / appeals / cross objections / references. It reads as under: "F. No. 279/Misc/M-93/2018-....