THE PR. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX-3 vs. EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL (INDIA) PVT. LTD

ITA/88/2019HC DelhiDLHC01008888201904 December 2019Bench: CASES PERTAINING TO SPL.DIVISION BENCHES2 pages

AI SummaryWithdrawn

What did the High Court hold?

The High Court declined to interfere with the ITAT's order at the present stage. The Court reasoned that the impugned order was interlocutory, and the original appeal before the ITAT was still pending. The Court held that if the Revenue is aggrieved by the final order of the ITAT in the pending appeal, it would be open to them to raise a challenge to the order dated 26.07.2018 at that time. All pleas and contentions of the Revenue raised in the present appeal were preserved. The High Court requested the ITAT to expedite the hearing of the pending appeal. No specific finding was made on the merits of the additional grounds themselves.

What were the facts?

The Revenue (Principal Commissioner of Income Tax-3) filed an appeal before the High Court of Delhi challenging an order dated 26.07.2018 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). The ITAT's order was made on an application by the Revenue to raise additional grounds in a pending appeal (ITA No. 2128/Del/2011) concerning Assessment Year 2005-06. The impugned ITAT order, while ostensibly dealing with the application for additional grounds, considered and rejected those grounds on their merits. The original appeal before the ITAT remained pending.

What were the issues?

1. Whether the ITAT erred in considering and rejecting the additional grounds on merits when the application was for permission to raise them in a pending appeal. (Question of law) Assessee's Contention: Not recorded in the judgment. Revenue's Contention: The ITAT wrongly considered and rejected the additional grounds on merits while dealing with an application for permission to raise them, and the original appeal was still pending before the Tribunal. The Revenue sought to challenge this interlocutory order at this stage.

AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below

$~14. * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + ITA 88/2019

THE PR. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX-3..... Appellant Through: Mr. Ruchir Bhatia and Mr. Shlok Chandra, Advocates.

versus

EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL (INDIA) PVT. LTD

..... Respondent Through: Ms. Shashi M. Kapila, Mr. Pravesh Sharma, Mr. R.R. Maurya, Mr.Bhuvan Mahajan and Mr. Vishal Kalra, Advocates.

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIPIN SANGHI HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE REKHA PALLI

O R D E R % 04.12.2019

The Revenue has preferred the present appeal to assail the order dated 26.07.2018 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) on the application moved by the appellant to raise additional grounds in the pending ITA No. 2128/Del/2011 preferred by the Revenue in relation to the Assessment Year 2005-06. The impugned order is an interlocutory order by which the ITAT has, while dealing with the application seeking permission to raise additional ground, in fact, considered and rejected the additional grounds on merits. The appeal is still pending consideration before the Tribunal.

In these circumstances, we are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order at this stage. In case the Revenue is aggrieved by the final order that the ITAT may pass in the pending appeal before the Tribunal, it shall be open to the appellant to raise challenge to the order dated 26.07.2018 as well. All pleas and contentions of the appellant, as raised in the present appeal, are preserved.

The appeal stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms.

The Tribunal is requested to expedite the hearing of the pending appeal.

VIPIN SANGHI, J

REKHA PALLI, J DECEMBER 04, 2019 B.S.Rohella

Recent GST High Court judgments

Search GST case law →