No Appeal Against Vodafone - CBDT
YESTERDAY we reported that the Union Cabinet had decided to accept the order of the High Court of Bombay in the Vodafone case, where the demand was to the tune of Rs 3,200 crore in a transfer pricing case. (2014-TII-19-HC-MUM-TP).
Today we have to report that the Board has also accepted the Order. The CBDT instruction states:
It is hereby informed that the Board has accepted the decision of the High Court of Bombay in the above mentioned Writ Petition. In view of the acceptance of the above judgment, it is directed that the ratio decidendi of the judgment must be adhered to by the field officers in all cases where this issue is involved. This may also be brought to the notice of the ITAT, DRPs and CsIT (Appeals).
On 28th January, the Cabinet accepted the decision and a day later the Board accepted it.
Why should the Board accept something that has already been accepted by the Cabinet? Even the President of India is bound by the decision of the cabinet - can the Board refuse to accept it after the cabinet has accepted it? And in these matters, who is the authority to accept the High Court order - the cabinet or the Board or both?
CBDT Instruction No. 02/2015, Dated: January 29, 2015