IN INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL DELHI BENCH : B : NEW DELHI BEFORE SHRI R.K. PANDA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND MS SUCHITRA KAMBLE, JUDICIAL MEMBER ITA No.1159/Del/2015 Assessment Year: 2010-11 ITO (Exemptions), Vs Evangelical Fellowship of India, Trust Ward-1(1), 805/92, Deepali Building, Delhi. Nehru Place, New Delhi. PAN: AAATE0025F (Appellant) (Respondent) Assessee by : Shri V.K. Tulsiyan, Advocate Revenue by : Ms Nidhi Srivastava, CIT, DR Date of Hearing : 21.08.2019 Date of Pronouncement : 21.08.2019 ORDER PER R.K. PANDA, AM: This appeal filed by Revenue is directed against order dated 22nd December, 2014 of CIT(A)-40, New Delhi, relating to assessment year 2010- 11. 2. grounds raised by Revenue read as under:- "1. On facts and in circumstances of case and in law, Ld. CIT(A) has erred in holding society is religious society disregarding fact that society has been registered u/s 12A of Act as charitable institution. 2. On facts and in circumstances of case and in law, Ld, ITA No.1159/Del/2015 CIT(A) has erred in allowing exemption u/s. 11 of Income Tax Act ignoring that assessee society has violated provision of section 13(1)(b) of Act" 3. "On facts and in circumstances of case and in law, Ld, CIT(A) has erred in allowing claim of depreciation of Rs. 13,88,049/- to assessee ignoring fact that assessee had claimed amount incurred on purchase of assets in earlier years as application of income, on which depreciation is claimed now and further allowance of depreciation will be tantamount to double deduction . 4. On facts and in circumstances of case and in law, Ld. CIT(A) has erred in allowing expenses of Rs. 76,33,020/- ignoring that same were not attributable to income earned. 3. ld. counsel for assessee, at outset, submitted that tax effect involved in grounds raised by Revenue is below Rs.50 lakhs. Therefore, in view of recent CBDT Circular dated 8th August, 2019, wherein CBDT has raised monetary limit for filing of appeal by Revenue before Tribunal to Rs.50 lakhs, appeal filed by Revenue is not maintainable. Referring to decision of Ahmedabad Bench of Tribunal in case of ITO vs. Dinesh Madhavlal Patel, vide ITA No.1398/Ahd/2004, order dated 14th August, 2019, he submitted that Tribunal in said decision, while dismissing appeal of Revenue on account of low tax effect has held that said CBDT Circular dated 8th August, 2019 shall be applicable to pending appeals in addition to appeals to be filed henceforth. He accordingly submitted that appeal filed by Revenue should be dismissed as not maintainable. 4. ld. DR, on other hand, fairly conceded that tax effect involved in grounds raised by Revenue is, admittedly, below Rs.50 lakhs. 2 ITA No.1159/Del/2015 5. We have considered rival arguments made by both sides and perused material available on record. It is admitted fact that tax effect involved in grounds raised by Revenue is below Rs.50 lakhs. CBDT, vide Circular No.17/2019 dated 8th August, 2019, has raised monetary limits for filing of appeals by Revenue before Tribunal to Rs.50 lakhs. Ahmedabad Bench of Tribunal in case of ITO vs. Dinesh Madhavlal Patel(supra) has held that said Circular dated 8th August, 2019 shall be applicable to pending appeals in addition to appeals to be filed henceforth. relevant portion of order of Tribunal from para 5 to 7 of order reads as under:- 5. Having considered rival submissions and having perused material on record, we do not have slightest of hesitation in holding that concession extended by CBDT not only applies to appeals to be filed in future but it is also equally applicable to appeals pending for disposal as on now. Our line of reasoning is this. circular dated 8th August 2019 is not standalone circular. It is to be read in conjunction with CBDT circular no 3 of 2018 (and subsequent amendment thereto), and all it does is to replace paragraph nos. 3 and 5 of said circular. This is evident from following extracts from circular dated 8th August 2019: 2. As step towards further management of litigation. it has been decided by Board that monetary limits for filing of appeals in income-tax cases be enhanced further through amendment in Para 3 of Circular mentioned above and accordingly. table for monetary limits specified in Para 3 of Circular shall read as follows: S.No. Appeals/SLPs in Income-tax matters Monetary Limit (Rs.) 1 Before Appellate Tribunal 50,00,000 2 Before High Court 1,00,00,000 3 Before Supreme Court 2,00,00,000 3. Further, with view to provide parity in filing of appeals in scenarios where separate order is passed by higher appellate authorities for each assessment year vis-a-vis where composite order 3 ITA No.1159/Del/2015 for more than one assessment years is passed. para 5 of circular is substituted by following para: 5. Assessing Officer shall calculate tax effect separately for every assessment year in respect of disputed issues in case of every assessee. If in case of assessee, disputed issues arise in more than one assessment year, appeal can be filed in respect of such assessment year or years in which tax effect in respect of disputed issues exceeds monetary limit specified in para 3. No appeal shall be filed in respect of assessment year or years in which tax effect is less than monetary limit specified in para 3. Further, even in case of composite order of any High Court or appellate authority which involves more than one assessment year and common issues in more than one assessment year no appeal shall be filed in respect of assessment year or years in which tax effect is less than monetary limit specified in para 3. In case where composite order/ judgement involves more than one assessee, each assessee shall be dealt with separately 4. said modifications shall come into effect from date of issue of this Circular. 6. Clearly, all other portions of circular no. 3 of 2018 (supra) have remained intact. portion which has remained intact includes paragraph 13 of aforesaid circular which is as follows: 13. This Circular will apply to SLPs/ appeals/ cross objections/ references to be filed henceforth in SC/HCs/Tribunal and it shall also apply retrospectively to pending SLPs/ appeals/ cross objections/references. Pending appeals below specified tax limits in pare 3 above may be withdrawn/ not pressed. 7. In view of above discussions, we hereby hold that relaxation in monetary limits for departmental appeals, vide CBDT circular dated 8th August 2019 (supra) shall be applicable to pending appeals in addition to appeals to be filed henceforth. 6. Since, in instant case, admittedly, tax effect involved in grounds raised by Revenue is below Rs.50 lakhs, therefore, following decision of Ahmedbad Bench of Tribunal in case of ITO vs. Dinesh Madhavlal Patel(supra) wherein it is held that said Circular is applicable even to pending 4 ITA No.1159/Del/2015 appeals, we hold that appeal filed by Revenue is not maintainable and has to be dismissed. Accordingly, appeal filed by Revenue is dismissed. 7. In result, appeals filed by Revenue is dismissed. decision was pronounced in open court on conclusion of hearing today itself i.e., on 21.08.2019. Sd/- Sd/- (SUCHITRA KAMBLE) (R.K. PANDA) JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMFBER Dated: 21st August, 2019 dk Copy forwarded to 1. Appellant 2. Respondent 3. CIT 4. CIT(A) 5. DR Asstt. Registrar, ITAT, New Delhi 5 ITO (Exemptions), Trust Ward-1(1), Delhi v. Evangelical Fellowship of India