1980 (8) TMI 9

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....ot raise any objection whatever, that suddenly with reference to the assessment year 1968-69, a new ITO changed his view and took the stand that the mere crediting of the account was not enough, that the amounts should have been actually paid in order to attract the exemption under s. 11 of the I.T. Act, and that, otherwise the petitioner was liable to pay the tax, and that, accordingly, the petitioner had been subjected to tax. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the said action of the ITO is the subject-matter of a few writ petitions pending on the file of this court, as well as of the reference in question. It is pending the reference under s. 256 of the I.T. Act, 1961, that the petitioner prays for the stay of collectio....

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..... Bansi Dhar and Sons v. CIT [1977] 111 ITR 330, referred to already. In ITO v. M. K. Mohammed Kunhi [1969] 71 ITR 815, the Supreme Court had to consider the power of the Appellate Tribunal to grant stay of the collection of tax. The Supreme Court, after referring to s. 254 of the I.T. Act, 1961, held that the statutory power under s. 254 of the I.T. Act, 1961, carried with it the duty in proper cases to make such orders for staying proceeding as will prevent the appeal, if successful, from being rendered nugatory. In the course of the judgment, the Supreme Court observed (p. 821): "It is interesting that in another case, Polisetti Narayana Rao v. CIT [1956] 29 ITR 222 (AP), the same High Court held that stay could be granted by it pe....

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....se or not. Normally speaking, having regard to the nature of the jurisdiction which the court exercises under s. 256 of the I.T. Act, 1961, namely, purely advisory, this power can be exercised, if at all, only in exceptional cases where extraordinary circumstances are present and not merely as matter of routine, as if this court were a court of appeal sitting in judgment over the assessments made by the officers functioning under the Act. Consequently, the question boils down to one of finding out whether there is any extraordinary circumstance present in this case or not. As we have pointed out already, according to the learned counsel for the petitioner, and the same was not disputed by the learned counsel for the Department, from 1962....