| Question And Answer | |
|---|---|
| Subject: | When the assessment is made as per the Face less Scheme , Which will be Jurisdictional Appellate Tribunal /High Court orders will be binding on the Assessing Officer ? |
| Category: | Income-Tax |
| Querist: | shah |
| Answered by: | Advocate Aditya Ajgonkar |
| Tags: | Appellate Tribunal, Binding precent, Face less assessment, Faceless assessment, High Court |
| Date: | May 15, 2021 |
in the case of a faceless asst/appeal , which will be jurisdictional itat/HC whose orders/judgements will be binding on the officer?
a] as per address of Assessee or
b] address of officer ?
The Jurisdiction of the Courts is determined by statute. It has been long held by the courts that in the absence of a statutory provision to the contrary, it is the location of the Assessing officer determines the issue of Jurisdiction as the lis lies with the Assessing officer. In the earlier process of Assessment, this was not a major issue as the permanent address of the Assessee and the location of the Assessing officer was often under the same jurisdictional bench of the Tribunal or High Court. The following Judgements supported this contention :-
• Seth Bansari Dass Gupta [1978] 113 ITR 817 (Delhi)(HC)
• CIT v. Madanlal & Co. [1993] 202 ITR 360 (Karnataka HC)
• CIT v. Tibetan Childrans village [2016] 388 ITR 126 (P&H)
• CIT v. Motorlora [2010] 326 ITR 156 (P&H)
In the case of CIT v. Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd. MANU/GJ/0886/2015, the Gujarat High Court, while examining the provisions of the Central Excise Act, 1944, when the statute itself conferred the Jurisdiction upon the High Court of Bombay for matters arising in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, it would be the orders / directions of the Bombay High Court that are legally binding even though the Commissioner / Deputy Commissioner was at Silvasa. However, the Income-tax Act, 1961, offers no such clarity in its present state.
Given that the Assessment are now carried on by the National E-Assessment Centre in New Delhi, through its Regional Assessment Centres, in the present form, the physical location of the Assessing officer becomes redundant, and it may be safe to consider that the Jurisdictional Bench of the Tribunal and High Courts shall be based upon the permanent address of the Assessee. This issue is yet to be authoritatively settled by the courts in light of the Faceless Assessment scheme. As this question has been answered for educational purposes, you are requested to obtain proper legal advice based upon the facts and circumstances of your case by a tax professional of your choice.