The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Delhi, in its judgment on ITA No. 1416/DEL/2019, addressed an appeal by Vidya Global School, Meerut, concerning penalty impositions by the JCIT (International Taxation), Noida, for the assessment year 2016-17.
Vidya Global School challenged penalties under Section 271C(1)(a) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, applied across three consecutive assessment years. The penalties were initially imposed by the Joint Commissioner of Income-Tax, and the school directly appealed to the ITAT, bypassing the Commissioner of Income-Tax (Appeals).
The Tribunal examined whether the appeals were properly filed. Under the Income-Tax Act’s Section 253, penalties under Section 271C by a Joint CIT are not directly appealable to the ITAT without first being addressed by the Commissioner of Income-Tax (Appeals). Section 246A(1)(n) provides the appropriate appellate route for such cases.
Vidya Global School’s appeals directly approached the Tribunal without first presenting their case to the Commissioner of Income-Tax (Appeals). The ITAT noted that this procedural misstep rendered the appeals non-maintainable.
The ITAT dismissed the appeals, stating they were not maintainable due to the procedural oversight of bypassing the first appellate authority. However, the Tribunal provided liberty to Vidya Global School to file appeals before the Commissioner of Income-Tax (Appeals). If the school chooses to do so, it is advised to request condonation for the delay in filing, considering that the initial appeal was incorrectly directed to the Tribunal.
This case underscores the importance of adhering to procedural requirements in tax litigation. Vidya Global School’s direct appeal to the ITAT without first approaching the Commissioner of Income-Tax (Appeals) resulted in a dismissal. Nonetheless, the Tribunal’s allowance for re-filing before the appropriate authority offers the appellant an opportunity to rectify the procedural lapse.
The decision was pronounced in the open court on July 14, 2022, by Judicial Member Shri Saktijit Dey and Accountant Member Dr. B.R.R. Kumar.
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL,
DELHI BENCH: ‘F’ NEW DELHI
BEFORE SHRI SAKTIJIT DEY, JUDICIAL MEMBER
AND
DR. BRR KUMAR, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
ITA Nos.1414/Del/2019 : Assessment Year: 2014-15
ITA Nos.1415/Del/2019 : Assessment Year: 2015-16
ITA Nos.1416/Del/2019 : Assessment Year: 2016-17
Vidya Global School,
C/o Vidya Bal Mandli, c/o
Pushkar Jain, Adv.
115-C, Jain Nagar, Meerut
(UP)
Vs. JCIT (International Taxation),
Noida
PAN: AAATV3392C
(Appellant) (Respondent)
ORDER
PER SAKTIJIT DEY, JUDICIAL MEMBER:
Captioned appeals have been filed by the same assessee, challenging the orders passed imposing penalty under Section 271C(1)(a) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17.
2. We have heard the parties and perused the material available on record.
3. At the very outset, it is observed, present appeals have been filed by the assessee against orders dated 07.01.2019 passed by the Joint Commissioner of Income-Tax, International Taxation, Range-Noida, imposing penalty under Section 271C(1)(a) of the Act for three separate assessment years, as noted above. Thus, undisputedly, assessee has directly come before Tribunal against the penalty orders passed by the Joint CIT. The aforesaid factual position was not disputed by learned counsel appearing for the assessee.
4. On a careful reading of Section 253 of the Act, we are convinced that penalty order passed under Section 271C of the Act by the Joint CIT is not an appealable order before the Tribunal. Whereas, section 246A(1)(n) provides a remedy by way of appeal before learned Commissioner of Income-Tax(Appeals).
5. Thus, it is a fact on record that bypassing the first appellate forum, the assessee has directly come in appeal before the Tribunal. Therefore, prima facie, the present appeals are not maintainable. Accordingly, appeals are dismissed.
6. Having held so, we grant liberty to the assessee to file appeals before the learned Commissioner (Appeals), if so advised. In case, the assessee files the appeals before the first appellate authority, he may do well to condone the delay in filing the appeals, considering the fact that appeals were filed before a wrong forum. More so, when the orders passed under Section 201(1)/201(IA), which led the imposition of penalty under Section 271C of the Act, in the meanwhile, have been quashed by the Tribunal.
7. In the result, all the appeals are dismissed.
Order pronounced in the open court on 14th July, 2022.
Sd/- Sd/-
(DR. BRR KUMAR) (SAKTIJIT DEY)
ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER
Dated: 14th July, 2022.
Mohan Lal
Copy forwarded to:
1. Appellant
2. Respondent
3. CIT
4. CIT(A)
5. DR
Asst. Registrar, ITAT, New Delhi
Dismissal of Penalty Appeal for Vidya Global School in ITA No. 1416/DEL/2019
Manage the increasing number of hearings effortlessly by leveraging the legal AI revolution We are India's Leading revolutionary AI-powered legal platform where you can get enough insights into top cases and judgements.
Research Platform