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DATE: August 28, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: October 13, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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CITATION:
Dept directed to follow directions of Delhi High Court in 352 ITR 273 and to be vigilant and ensure that such mistakes do not occur. Dept directed to set up a self-auditing vigilance cell to redress taxpayers' grievances

The Income Tax authorities shall follow the directions given by the Delhi High Court in case of Court On Its Own Motion v. Commissioner of Income-tax 352 ITR 273 in other cities, including the city of Mumbai, in Maharashtra State. We hope and trust that the Income Tax Department will be more vigilant and ensure that such mistakes will not occur in future. We also direct the Income Tax Department to form a Vigilance Cell to ensure that there is a monitoring authority, which would monitor various policy decisions which are taken and a self auditing mechanism is required to be formulated to ensure that the income tax assessees are not made to run from pillar to post for the purpose of redressal of their grievances

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DATE: January 19, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: October 12, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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For filing frivolous appeals and harassing taxpayers, heavy/exemplary costs to be imposed which will have to be personally paid by the jurisdictional CIT who sanctioned filing of the appeal

We are now putting the Officers of the Revenue to notice, that in all cases including where appeals are filed, the Offices instructing the Counsel would review whether the appeal should at all be pressed in view of the Revenue having accepted the jurisdictional High Court’s order on an identical issue and take necessary instructions from the Commissioner of Income Tax to withdraw and/or not press the appeal. Alternatively, in case a conscious decision is taken to press the appeal, then an averment to the effect that either the case is distinguishable or an appeal has been preferred from the decision of this Court to the Apex Court if not averred in the appeal memo, then a further affidavit in support be filed indicating the reasons. In the absence of the above, we will be compelled to impose heavy/exemplary costs to be personally personally paid by the jurisdictional – Commissioner of Income Tax under whose jurisdiction, the appeal is being filed and pressed in spite of the issue being settled by this Court and the same having been accepted by the Revenue

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DATE: September 4, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: September 9, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1994-95, 1996-97
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CITATION:
Strictures passed against ICAI By ITAT for alleged “deteriorating standards” and “losing its grip over the Income tax matters” toned down on the basis that they were made in the context of a "hypothetical situation" and were not "intended to criticize the functioning of the ICAI"

The Income tax Appellate Tribunal, being a part of Government of India, should not shut its eyes when it is noticed that certain developments occurring in the Country may affect the Country as a whole, more particularly when the reputation of particular profession, from whom the Tribunal is getting assistance in the dispensation of justice, is at stake. Accordingly, we sincerely believe that it is the bounden duty of not only the Tribunal, but also the duty of one and all to point out and discuss about such kind of developments, when it is noticed that the same may affect the public at large. There cannot be any controversy that the interest of our Country is Supreme and no citizen can or should compromise on the same

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DATE: August 7, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: August 13, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2004-05, 2006-07, 2009-10
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CITATION:
Strictures passed against the Dept for ‘mischievous adamancy to attempt to mislead the Tribunal’, ‘obduracy and adamancy in filing meritless appeal’, ‘travesty of justice’, ‘Mocking at the system by filing the appeals’, ‘grave assault on the trust and reputation of fair play enjoyed by the tax administration’ etc

We are pained to address the serious damage done by this deliberate, mischievous and selective reference to facts by such responsible persons which grievously damages the public faith and belief in the honest fair play of the tax administration. The conscious and selective reference to facts demonstrates that at the very stage of filing of the appeal its fate and conclusion was known for which specific purpose the facts were attempted to be obfuscated. The filing of present appeal with complete knowledge of its fate by the Revenue only reflects the mischievous adamancy to attempt to mislead the Tribunal and waste the time of the Court and the officers concerned

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DATE: August 13, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: August 12, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: -
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CITATION:
S. 253: Severe strictures passed regarding the conduct of the Vice President and President of the ITAT and the CBDT for seeking to constitute Special Bench for non-judicial reasons and on grounds of "political sensitivity"

This is the most distressing part. The president forwarded the letter of the Board to the Vice president for his comments. This was purely an internal movement of the file. It was not that the matter was judicially assigned to the Vice president and notified on his board. There was no indication for any litigant to know that the file was now before the Vice president. In spite of this position, the Special counsel who was to be engaged by the Revenue met the Vice president and explained him the need for a special bench. How the Special counsel knew that the file of the matter was before the Vice president, is a mystery. This was a private meeting and the Petitioner was not informed. The matter was seized before the regular bench and the revenue was a contesting party. The Petitioner was completely unaware that any such private meeting had taken place between the counsel and the Vice president. Permitting a party to the litigation to meet privately in absence of other side in respect of an ongoing litigation and then base an opinion on such meeting ,was most improper on the part of the Vice president. The Vice president did not even find it improper and he has proceeded to place the said private meeting on record as if nothing was wrong about the same. Not only holding such private meetings is opposed to judicial conduct, but not knowing that it is an improper judicial conduct, makes the matters worse

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DATE: July 16, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 30, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2009-10
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CITATION:
Action of the ITAT in disregarding its own order without reason and remanding matter to AO for fresh consideration is "arbitrary" and "failure to perform basic judicial function" and a "lapse" which should not occur again.

The Tribunal should not completely disregard its earlier order without some reason. This is the minimum expected of any quasi judicial / judicial authority. If the Tribunal has failed to perform it’s basic judicial functions in such arbitrary manner, the approach of the Tribunal must be corrected, so as to ensure that such lapses do not occur again

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DATE: June 17, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 1997-98
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CITATION:
Strictures passed regarding the "casual and callous" and "frivolous" manner in which senior officers of the dept authorize filing of appeals. Strictures also passed against counsel for acting as a "mouthpiece" of the Dept in persisting with unmeritorious appeals. CBDT directed to take appropriate action

Undoubtedly, an Advocate has to fearlessly put forth his client’s point of view, however the same has to be tempered /guided by truth and justice of the dispute. In matters of tax, justice requires that there must be certainty of law which presupposes equal application of law. Thus where the issue in controversy stands settled by decisions of this Court or the Tribunal in any other case and the Revenue has accepted that decision, then in that event the Revenue ought not to agitate the issue further unless there is some cogent justification such as change in law or some later decision of an higher forum etc

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DATE: June 16, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: July 1, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2007-08
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CITATION:
S. 250: Orders of the ITAT are binding on the lower authorities and should be followed unreservedly. Blatant failure to do so could attract contempt of court proceedings

It is a clear case of showing disrespect to the order of the Tribunal. Therefore, contempt proceedings could have been initiated against the CIT (A) for blatantly disobeying the order of the Tribunal. The Madhya Pradesh High Court in Agrawal Warehousing & Leasing Ltd. vs. CIT 257 ITR 235 held that the CIT (A) cannot refuse to follow the order of the Appellate Tribunal. The CIT (A) is a quasi – judicial authority and is subordinate in judicial hierarchy to the Tribunal. The orders passed by the Tribunal are binding on all the revenue authorities functioning under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. The principles of judicial discipline require that the orders of the higher appellate authorities should be followed unreservedly by the subordinate authorities

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DATE: May 16, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: May 29, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2005-06, 2006-07
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CITATION:
Dept's practice of filing appeals in a routine manner and without application of mind deprecated as it causes inconvenience to taxpayers

At least the senior officer such as Commissioner of Income Tax should have carefully perused the record and CIT(A)’s order before granting authorisation. The very fact that the AO filed the appeals without even verifying the year, which was mentioned in the grounds of appeal, also indicates that the appeals were filed in a routine manner which causes lot of inconvenience to the tax payers and such a practice should be deprecated

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DATE: May 27, 2015 (Date of pronouncement)
DATE: May 28, 2015 (Date of publication)
AY: 2008-09
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CITATION:
The severity of accusations and fury emerging from their language is highly derogatory, defamatory and contemptuous, sent with a scheme and clear intention to intimidate judicial officers to desist from passing an unfavorable order

It shall be noteworthy that till 28-4-15 these professionals had no objection with the bench as no grievance whatsoever was raised. The casual way of adjournment against final chance shows their casual attitude of taking the judicial process for granted. The emphatic demand that – if other matters were adjourned, our appeal should also have been adjourned; amounts to dictating the terms to the court. It reflects their inaptitude in failing to appreciate the vital fact that thus adjournment was granted as a final chance which was agreed by them. “They keep ‘holier than thou attitude’; if I commit wrong or disobey there is nothing wrong in it but if the bench doesn’t conduct itself in my desired way then bench is by default wrong and I raise scandalous tirade against bench.” To show their might they shoot frivolous complaints, file litany of motivated RTIs proclaiming to be RTI activist. These brazenly scandalous acts have been unleashed by them with swagger of impunity and recklessness without realizing that when the appeal is pending orders such threats construe contempt of court. …..

Perhaps they are enraged on their own professional inaptitude which became visible in open court proceedings, it requires self introspection and hard preparation of appeal; instead they have misdirected their self fury on the bench indiscriminately. Their own professional infirmities can be improved from their side by mending their unprofessional attitude. They cannot score brownie points by telling the world that they can get desired orders by threatening to harm judicial officers and their delinquent conduct is justified.

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