I-T - Collegium for considering withdrawal of Appeals before High Courts
THE Bombay High Court in a recent judgement observed,
1. Out of 4784 appeals from the order of the Tribunal filed in this Court during the period 01/01/2014 to 01/06/2014 the appeals filed by the Revenue are 3968 and only 816 by the class of Assessee as a whole.
2. The Appeal memo has been signed by a senior officer of the Revenue viz. Director of Incometax. Either there is no application of mind to the order of the Tribunal before filing of this appeal or the Revenue is deliberately seeking to keep the pot boiling, so that uncertainty is kept alive. It shows the casual attitude of the Revenue in filing appeals. This is not the first of its kind. We had earlier also passed orders disapproving this conduct of the revenue, but there is no improvement. If filing of such appeals by the Revenue without justification is unacceptable, the counsel for the Revenue persisting in arguing those questions of law taking valuable time of Court is further objectionable. Such frivolous appeals add to the burden of the Court and thoughtless prosecution of these takes time of the Court which could be utilised for more meritorious(debatable) cases.
3. We direct the Registry and also the Counsel appearing for the Revenue to forward a copy of this order to CBDT. What could possibly be done is to provide an inhouse committee of senior officers of the Revenue to review decisions taken in respect of appeals already filed and pending. If it is found that questions raised are covered by any decision of this Court or Apex Court or it relies upon an earlier decision of the Tribunal which has been accepted by the Revenue as no appeal therefrom has been filed, then they could be separately classified. On completion of the above exercise such appeals could be either withdrawn and/or dismissed as not pressed.
The good news is CBDT has positively reacted.
CBDT has set up collegiums to review all the pending appeals. It would be the responsibility of the PCIT concerned to draw up a list of pending appeals in his Charge and present cases for review to the collegium. Preparation of an accurate list of pendency must be completed by 15.12.2015 in consultation with the High Court Registry and with the assistance of standing counsels. An action taken report containing the status of the work completed/ pending as on 31.03.2016 in each CCIT Region will be submitted by the Pr. CCIT to the Zonal Member by 15.04.2016.
If the CBEC undertakes a similar exercise, many appeals in the CESTAT and High Courts can be withdrawn. But then, the Committee system has failed miserably under the CBEC; it has only created more frivolous appeals than before.
CBDT Office Memorandum in F.No.279/Misc./52/2014-(ITJ), Dated: December 10, 2015