DATE: Friday, 11 November 2022

A full court farewell function was organised by the ITAT, Mumbai, at Court Room 1 on 11th November 2022 on the occasion of superannuation of Hon’ble Vice-President, Shri Pramod Kumar. The function was chaired by Hon’ble Shri. G. S. Pannu, President of the ITAT. Hon’ble Accountant Member, Shri Baskaran, was Master of the Ceremony. A large number of professionals, department representatives and the staff attended the function. The Court was packed with all the chairs being occupied and and many attendees had to stand on the pathways to witness the proceedings.

A. On behalf of the ITAT Bar Association, Mumbai, the following members addressed the gathering to bid adieu to the Hon’ble Vice – President and shared their sentiments:

1) Shri Vipul B. Joshi, Advocate, President of the ITAT Bar Association

2) Dr Y.P. Trivedi, Senior Advocate, Past President

3) Dr K. Shivaram, Senior Advocate, Past President

4) Mrs Aarti Vissanji, Advocate, Past President

5) Shri Hiro Rai, Advocate, Past President

6) CA Shri Rajan Vora, Managing Committee Member

B. On behalf of the Income-tax Department, the following Departmental Representatives addressed the gathering.

1) Mrs Vatsala Jha, PCIT

2) Mrs Surabhi Sharma, CIT-DR

3) Mr Rajesh Damor, CIT

C. For the first time in the history of the Tribunal, International Jurists and professionals attended. Few who were not able to attend shared their recorded video messages which were played on the screen. They acknowledged the momentous work contribution made by the Hon’ble Vice – President in the field of development of international taxation laws. The messages so received were from:

1) Justice Tony Pagone, Australia

2) Justice Wim Wijnen, The Netherlands

3) Mr Michael Lennard, New York, USA

4) Justice Anthony Gafoor, Trinidad and Tobago

5) Mr Phillippe Martin, Paris, France

D. Thereafter, few intivitees, including a retired Vice – President of the ITAT and represantatives from other Bar Associations and ICAI shared their sentiments. They were:

1) Shri R.P. Tolani, Advocate and Ex-VP, ITAT

2) Shri CA Piyush Chajjed, Central Council Member, ICAI

3) Shri Tushar Hemani, Sr. Advocate, Ahmedabad

4) Shri Y.K. Sud, ITAT Bar Association, Amritsar

5) Shri Sameer Devatia, Advocate, Ahmedabad

6) Shri Rasish Shah, CA, Surat.

7) Shri Naveen Garg, Advocate, Agra

E. The Farewell functuion could not have been complete without the Co-brothers, Hon’ble Vice Presidents, sharing their sentiments. They were:

1) Shri Rajpal Yadav, VP, Kolkatta Zone

2) Shri N.V. Vasudevan, VP, Bangalore Zone

3) Shri P.M. Jagtap, VP, Ahmedabad Zone

4) Shri R.S. Sayal, VP, Pune Zone

F. The concluding address was given by Hon’ble Shri G. S. Pannu, President of ITAT, who very masterly paid rich tribute to the Hon’ble Vice-President and lauded his finer qualities as a member and as a person.

G. All the speakers gave their best wishes for his future endeavours. The audience was overwhelmed to learn about the great qualities of Shri Pramod Kumar, including the fact that a large number of judgements delivered by him have been approved and affirmed by the Hon’ble High Court and Apex Court. In fact, in one of the cases, the Hon’ble Judge of the High Court relied upon his decision to decide the case and appreciated the quality of the judgement delivered by the Hon’ble Vice-President. Further, the Tribunal got recognition at the International forum due to the judgements delivered by the Hon’ble Vice-President and other Hon’ble Members. Papers on various subjects were presented by the Hon’ble Vice-President at several international forums over a decade. The Hon’ble Vice-President excelled as a fine judge, a very good administrator and, above all, a good human being. He had mastered the art of writing judgements.

H. Everyone was eagerly waiting to hear response from Shri Pramod Kumar, Hon’ble Vice President. Shri Pramod Kumar, in his farwell speech, thanked everyone and narrated his journey of around 22 years in the Tribunal. He also thanked the Hon’ble President for his support and for the healty work environment created by him. Everyone was awestruck listening him and his experiences.

I. The function ended with a vote of thanks by Shri Amit Shukla, Hon’ble Judicial Member.

J. The ITAT Bar Association, Mumbai, also organised a farewell dinner on 11th November 2022 at _Bellissima Opera House which was attended by Hon’ble President, Hon’ble Vice – Presidents and Hon’ble members of the ITAT and a large number of professionals.

ITAT Bar Association has celebrated “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav “ on 12 -8 -2022 at IMC Library Longue Mumbai 400020. Honourable President of the ITAT Shri G.S .Pannu , Honourable Vice Presidents Shri R. S. Syal, Shri Pramod M.Jagtap , Shri Naresh K . Saini Shri N..V . Vasudevan, Shri Pramod Kumar Shri Akash Deep Jain, Shri Rajpal Yadav, Mahabvir Singh, Honourable Members of the ITAT Mumbai and members of the ITAT Bar Association have attended the function.

---