IN INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL C BENCH : CHENNAI BEFORE SHRI GEORGE MATHAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER & SHRI RAMIT KOCHAR, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER Sl. ITA No. Assessment Appellant Respondent No. year 1 1486/Chny/2008 2002-03 DCIT, Central Circle- Mr.Jacob George, II(1), Chennai-34 154,Rangarajapuram Main 2 1487/Chny/2008 2003-04 road,Kodambakkam, ,Chennai-24. PAN ADRPJ 8104 C 3. 2588/chny/2018 2014-15 DCIT, Corporate M/s.Argus Cosmetics Pvt Circle-I(1), Chennai-34 Ltd., 4,Sujantha Road, Alwarpet Chennai 600 018. PAN AACCA8376L 43159 /chny/18 2009-10 ITO (Exemptions), M/s.Madras Motor Sports 5 3160 /chny/18 2010-11 Ward-I, Club, 6 3161 /chny/18 2011-12 Chennai. 123/1,Guru Mansion, 7 3162 /chny/18 2012-13 TTK Road, Alwarpet, Chennai- 8 3163/chny/18 2013-14 600 018. 9 3164 /chny/18 2014-15 PAN AAOFM 1744 K 10 1388 /chny/18 2009-10 ITO, M/s.Samanvitha 11 1389 /chny/18 2010-11 Non- Corporate ward- Constructions, 14(1), Chennai. 132,Sivananda Salai, Gill Nagar Extn.,Choolaimedu, Chennai 600 094.. PAN ABEFS 4569 D 12 1627/Chny/2019 2009-10 DCIT, M/s.Bannari Amman Sugars Corporate Circle- Ltd., 1212 Trichy road, 1Coimbatore. Coimbatore 641 018. PAN AAACB 8933 G / Appellant by : Mr.J.Pavitran Kumar,JCIT,D.R /Respondent by : Sl.No. as mentioned in cause Title Sl.N Name of Counsel o. 1 Mr.G.Baskar,Advocate 2 3 Mr.K.Balasubramanian, Advocate 4 to Mr.R.Lakshmi Ratan, 9 Advocate 10 - Mr.N.Arjun Raj for 11 D.Anand, Advocate 12 Mr.Saroj Kumar Parida,Advocate :- 2 -: Tax effect (12) cases below 50 lakhs /Date of Hearing : 19-09-2019 /Date of Pronouncement : 19-09-2019 / O R D E R PER BENCH: These Twelve (12) appeals are filed by various Assessing Officers, all these appeals call into question correctness of relief granted to taxpayers by Commissioners of Income Tax (Appeals) and, most importantly, tax effect involved in all these appeals does not exceed Rs50,00,000/- in each of these appeals. 2. Vide CBDT circular No.17/2019 in F.No.279/Misc.142/2007- ITJ(Pt) dated 8th August, 2019, income tax department has further liberalized its policy for not filing appeals against decisions of appellate authorities in favour of taxpayers, wherein tax involved is below certain threshold limits, and announced its policy decision not to file, or press, appeals, before this Tribunal, against appellate orders favourable to assessee in cases in which overall tax effect, excluding interest except when interest itself is in dispute, is Rs 50,00,000 or less. 3. In view of above factual background and concession by this CBDT circular, all these appeals must be dismissed as :- 3 -: Tax effect (12) cases below 50 lakhs withdrawn and related cross objections must be dismissed as infructuous. 4. This circular, only enhances monetary limits and gives further relaxation. old circular, beyond any dispute or controversy, categorically applied to pending appeals as on date of issuance of circular. 5. circular dated 8th August 2019 is not standalone circular. It is to be read in conjunction with CBDT circular No. 3/2018 (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 8thAugust 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 Monetary matters 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 :- 4 -: Tax effect (12) cases below 50 lakhs 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 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 everyassessee. 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 :- 5 -: Tax effect (12) cases below 50 lakhs appeals below specified tax limits in pare 3 above may be withdrawn/ not pressed. 7. Hon ble Supreme Court in case of Commissioner of Income Tax-5,New Delhi Vs. Keshav Power Ltd., in SLP No.21497/2019 dated 16.08.2019 reported in 2019(8)TMI 811(SC) has also applied Circular No.17/2019 dated 08.08.2019 has dismissed appeal holding as follows: Since tax effect involved in matter is less than Rs.2/- crores, going by latest circular issued by CBDT, we see no reason to interfere in this matter. Special Leave Petition is dismissed, leaving all questions of law open . 8. Learned Commissioner (DR) submits liberty may kindly be given to point out, upon necessary further verifications, and to seek recall dismissal of appeals and restoration of appeals in cases (i) in which it can be demonstrated that appeals are covered by exceptions, and (ii) which are inadvertently included in this bunch of appeals, wherein tax effect, in terms of CBDT circular (supra), exceeds Rs 50,00,000. None opposes this prayer; we accept same. We make it clear that appellants shall be at liberty to point out cases which are wrongly included in appeals so summarily dismissed, either owing to wrong computation of tax effect or owning to such cases being covered by permissible exceptions- or for any other reason, and we will take appropriate remedial steps in this regard. :- 6 -: Tax effect (12) cases below 50 lakhs 9. In circumstances, respectfully following principles laid down by Hon ble Supreme Court in case of Commissioner of Income Tax-5,New Delhi Vs. Keshav Power Ltd., referred to supra and in light of above discussions, all appeals filed by Revenue are found to be non-maintainable. 10. In result, all appeals of Revenue are dismissed as withdrawn. Order pronounced in open court after conclusion of hearing on 19th September, 2019, at Chennai. Sd/- Sd/- (RAMIT KOCHAR) (GEORGE MATHAN) /Accountant Member /JUDICIAL MEMBER /Chennai /Dated: 19th September, 2019. K S Sundaram Copy to: 1. /Appellant 4. ( /CIT 2. /Respondent 5. DR 3. CIT(A) 6. 0 /GF DCIT, Central CircleII(1), Chennai-34 v. Jacob George