Action against High-pitched and unreasonable assessment orders - CBDT Initiative - Making Babu Responsible
THE other day an agitated assessee came to me and said that he wanted to submit a complaint to the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and CBEC Chief against an adjudicating officer for a very unfair, unreasonable and perverse order, which even an ordinary man with no knowledge of tax laws would know is ridiculous. I had to convince him to appeal against the order and not to go round making complaints. (What else can a lawyer advise?). But he was very frustrated that not only he had to go through the arduous appellate mechanism, but also make a mandatory pre-deposit against a patently illegal order.
The CBDT seems to be aware of such situations. In an Instruction to the field staff issued yesterday, the Board says,
Board has consistently been advising the field authorities to be fair, objective and rational while framing scrutiny assessment orders. Role of supervisory authorities in this regard, has also been highlighted by the Board from time to time. It has, however, been brought to the notice of Board that the tendency to frame high-pitched and unreasonable assessment orders is still persisting due to which grievances are being raised by the taxpayers. Such grievances not only reflect harassment of taxpayers but also lead to generation of unproductive work for Department as well as Appellate Authorities.
So, CBDT has decided to constitute Local Committees to deal with Taxpayers Grievances from high-pitched scrutiny assessment. The grievance petition received by the Local Committee would be examined by it to ascertain whether there is a prima-facie case of high-pitched assessment, non-observance of principles of natural justice, non-application of mind, gross negligence or lack of involvement of assessing officer. The Committee would ascertain whether the addition made in assessment order are not backed by any sound reason or logic, the provisions of law have grossly been misinterpreted or obvious and well established facts on records have outrightly been ignored. The Committee would also take into consideration whether the principles of natural justice have been followed by the assessing officer.
If it is established that unreasonable and high-pitched additions have been made by the assessing officer, suitable administrative action would be taken, wherever required. Further, departmental position as determined by the Local Committee in such cases would be appropriately presented before the Appellate Authorities so that litigation is curtailed .
Board has however clarified that the purpose of constitution of Local Committee is to effectively and efficiently deal with the genuine grievances of taxpayers and help in supporting an environment where assessment orders are passed in a fair and reasonable manner. The Local Committee, in no way, can be considered to be an alternative/additional appellate channel.
This is a great march ahead in litigation management. CBDT deserves all praise for launching such a laudable scheme. We only hope that this like the “Committee of Commissioners/Chief Commissioners” is not converted into a farce. Will CBEC follow suit?
CBDT Instruction No. 17/2015., Dated: November 09, 2015