COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX Vs. P. C. NAIDU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This income-tax appeal filed by the appellant- 1 Revenue earlier came to be disposed of by a Co-ordinate Bench of this court on Nov. 2, 2011, on the ground that the appeal was not maintainable due to the tax effect involved being less than the prescribed monetary limit of Rs. 20 lakhs in the instructions issued by Central Board of Direct Taxes in 2011 (for short the "CBDT").

(2.) The matter was remanded back to this court by orders of the hon'ble 2 Supreme Court by a common order passed in some civil appeals, including the lead Civil Appeal No. 16815 of 2017 at S. L. P. (C) No. 1425 of 2014 Commissioner of Income Tax Vs. Gemini Distilleries reported in [2017] 398 HR 343 (SC) decided on Oct. 12, 2017, but the said order of the two-judge Bench of the hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Gemini Distilleries (supra) came to be explained by a later decision of the hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of DIT Vs. S. R. M. B. Dairy Farming (P.) Ltd. reported in [2018] 400 ITR 9 (SC) decided on Nov. 23, 2017 about the retrospective application of the Central Board of Direct Taxes Circulars with regard to monetary limits for maintaining the pending appeals before the hon'ble High Court under section 260A of the Income-tax Act. The hon'ble Supreme Court in S.R. M. B. Dairy Farming (P.) Ltd. (supra) held as under (headnote of 400 ITR 9) :

(3.) Recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has again revised the instructions in this regard and besides para 13 specifically allowing withdrawal of pending appeals, the monetary limits for maintaining such income-tax appeals before the High Court is raised from Rs. 20 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs. The said circular is quoted extenso below ([2018] 405 ITR (St.) 29) : "C. B. D. T. Circulars Circular No. 3 of 2018, dated 11th July, 2018. Subject : Revision of monetary limits for filing of appeals by the Department before Income-tax Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and SLPs/appeals before Supreme Court-Measures for reducing litigation-Reg. Reference is invited to the Board's Circular No. 21 of 2015 dated Dec. 10, 2015 [[2015] 379 ITR (St.) 107] wherein monetary limits and other conditions for filing Departmental appeals (in Income-tax matters) before Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and special leave petitions/appeals before Supreme Court were specified.