SHRI K.R. JAGANNATHAN,CHENNAI V. ITO, INTL TAXATION WARD-1(2), CHENNAI

WTA 5/CHNY/2025

AI Insights

The case involves appeals by Shri K.R. Jagannathan against the orders of the CIT(A)-31, Delhi, concerning the assessment years 2008-09 and 2009-10. The primary contention was the jurisdiction of the CIT(A) to adjudicate the appeals, which the assessee argued was incorrectly assigned to CIT(A)-31, Delhi, instead of CIT(A)-18, Chennai. The Tribunal examined the jurisdictional authority in light of the CBDT Circular F. NO. 279/MISC./M-44/2018-ITJ, dated 07.04.2021, which specified the territorial jurisdiction of various CIT(A) offices post the implementation of the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020. The Tribunal found that the CIT(A)-31, Delhi, did not have the rightful jurisdiction over the assessee's appeals, leading to the quashing of the appellate orders.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 783783 (ITAT-CHENNAI)
• Duration Of Justice: 3 month(s) 6 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Wealth Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 06-11-2025
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: D
• Assessment Year: 2008-2009
• Appeal Filed On: 30-07-2025
• Laws Referred To: Wealth Tax Act 1957, Faceless Appeal Scheme 2020, Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: SAUJANYA RANJAN; IRS
• Assessee Lawyers: LAVANYA

Judgement Text

"आयकर अपीलीय अधिकरण, ’डी’ न्यायपीठ, चेन्नई। IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL ‘D’ BENCH: CHENNAI श्री एबी टी. वर्की, न्यायिर्क सदस्य एवं श्री अयिताभ शुक्ला, लेखा सदस्य क े समक्ष BEFORE SHRI ABY T VARKEY, JUDICIAL MEMBER AND SHRI AMITABH SHUKLA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER आयकर अपील सं./WTA No.5/Chny/2025, Assessment Years: 2008-09 आयकर अपील सं./WTA No.6/Chny/2025, Assessment Years: 2009-10 Shri K.R.Jagannathan, No.4, Krishna Street, T.Nagar, Chennai-600 017. [PAN: AHMPJ0881H] Income Tax Officer, International Taxation Ward-1(2), Chennai. (अपीलार्थी/Appellant) (प्रत्यर्थी/Respondent) अपीलार्थी की ओर से/ Assessee by : Ms.Lavanya, C.A. प्रत्यर्थी की ओर से /Revenue by : Mr.Saujanya Ranjan, IRS सुनवाई की तारीख/Date of Hearing : 24.09.2025 घोषणा की तारीख /Date of Pronouncement : 06.11.2025 आदेश / O R D E R PER AMITABH SHUKLA, A.M : The below mentioned appeals have been filed by the appellant assessee for AY-2008-09 and 2009-10 contesting the order of Ld. First Appellate Authority indicated Column-E, herein below:- S. No. Appeal Nos. AYs Appellant CIT(A) Order Details Respondent A B C D E F 1 WTA No. 5 / Chny / 2025 2008-09 Shri K.R.Jagannathan, No.4, Krishna Street, T.Nagar, Chennai-600 017. [PAN: AHMPJ0881H] DIN & Order No.ITBA / APL / S / 23 / 2025-26 / 1076991020(1) dated 13.06.2025 Income Tax Officer, International Taxation Ward- 1(2), Chennai. 2 WTA No. 6 / Chny / 2025 2009-10 DIN & Order No.ITBA / APL / S / 23 / 2025-26 / 1076990784(1) dated 13.06.2025 Printed from counselvise.com WTA No.5 & 6 /Chny/2025 Page - 2 - of 6 2.0 Both the appeals of the assessee vide ITA Nos. WTA-5/2025 and WTA-6/2025 contain a common controversy concerning jurisdiction of CIT(A) to adjudicate the appeals and hence for the purpose of convenience were heard together and are being adjudicated by this common order. 3.0 At the outset Ld.Counsel for the assessee informed that it is contesting the impugned appellate orders both dated 13.06.2025 for AY- 2008-09 and 2009-10, passed by the Ld.CIT(A)- 31, Delhi as the same are null and void being passed without the jurisdiction. It was argued that the rightful jurisdiction over the impugned appeals was available with CIT(A) (18), Chennai. In support of its arguments, the Ld.Counsel placed reliance upon the CIRCULAR F. NO. 279/MISC./M-44/2018-ITJ, DATED 07.04.2021 issued by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Delhi. 4.0 Per contra, the Ld.DR would like to place reliance upon the order of lower authority. 5.0 We have heard the rival submissions in the light of material available on records. We have noted that the impugned Circular dated 07.04.2021 supra lies at the core of the controversy and hence we deem it appropriate to reproduce the same:- Printed from counselvise.com WTA No.5 & 6 /Chny/2025 Page - 3 - of 6 “….CIRCULAR F. NO. 279/MISC./M-44/2018-ITJ, DATED 23-3-2021 After implementation of Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020, Income-tax appeals shall be finalised in a facelessmanner with the exception of appeals relating to serious frauds, major tax evasion, sensitive & search matters,International Tax and Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act,2015. As vide DoR's Order No. 182/2020 dated 25-9-2020, many posts of the Commissioner of Income-tax(Appeals) have been diverted as Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeal Units) under the newly createdNational Faceless Appeal Centre and its four Regional Faceless Appeal Centres, including those approved inthe Board's letter in F.No.278/M-44/2018-ITJ dated 1st October, 2018, therefore, Board's letter of even numberdated 1st October, 2018 needs to be revised. 2. Accordingly, in supersession of Board's letter in F.No.278/M- 44/2018-ITJ dated 1st October, 2018, approvalof the Board is hereby granted for notifying following Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) to exercisejurisdiction over the cases under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition ofTax Act, 2015, in respective Principal Chief Commissioner or Income- tax regions/charges, as per the tablebelow: —Sl.No. Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax Region/Charge Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) to exercise jurisdiction over the cases under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 A B C 1 Andhra Pradesh &Telangana Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-11, Hyderabad 2 Bihar & Jharkhand Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-3, Patna 3 Delhi Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-31, Delhi 4 Gujarat Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-11, Ahmedabad 5 Karnataka & Goa Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-11, Bengaluru 6 Kerala Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-3, Kochi 7 Madhya Pradesh &Chhattisgarh Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-3, Bhopal 8 Mumbai Commissioner of Income-tax Printed from counselvise.com WTA No.5 & 6 /Chny/2025 Page - 4 - of 6 (Appeals)-51, Mumbai 9 Nagpur Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-3, Nagpur 10 North East Region Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) (Central), NER, Guwahati 11 North West Region Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-3, Gurugram 12 Odisha Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-2, Bhubaneswar 13 Pune Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-11, Pune 14 Rajasthan Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-4, Jaipur 15 Tamil Nadu & Commissioner of Income- tax (Appeals)-18, Chennai 16 Uttar Pradesh (East) Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-3, Lucknow 17 Uttar Pradesh (West) &Uttarakhand Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-4, Kanpur 18 West Bengal & Sikkim Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-20, Kolkata 19 International Taxation Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)-42, Delhi 5. In light of above, I am directed to convey that necessary notification to this effect may kindly be issued by Principal Chief Commissioners of Income-tax. Further, a copy of the notification may kindly be forwarded to this office for records. 6. This approval shall be deemed to have come into force on 25th September 2020 or on the date of creation of post in column C of table in para 2 supra, whichever is later. 7. This issues with the approval of Member (Audit & Judicial), Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi….” 6.0 It is the case of the assessee that in terms of above extracted circular of CBDT, jurisdiction to adjudicate appeals in cases pertaining to wealth tax Act 1957 and some other allied Acts was vested territorially Printed from counselvise.com WTA No.5 & 6 /Chny/2025 Page - 5 - of 6 w.r.t. corresponding jurisdiction of Regional Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax(PCCIT) charges. Thus, as far as cases of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry jurisdiction lying under administrative control of Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were concerned the same were vested with Commissioner of Income Tax-18, Chennai. We have noted that there is sufficient force in the argument of the assessee as far as jurisdiction of appellate authority is concerned. Thus, we have noted that the CIT(A)-31, Delhi did not have any rightful jurisdiction to adjudicate. It is settled principle of law that availability of a rightful legal jurisdiction is sina qua non for any quasi-judicial authority. We have noted that, in terms of CBDT circular dated 07.04.2021 supra, in the instant case, the CIT(A)-31, Delhi did not possess any rightful legal jurisdiction over the dispute of the assessee. The appellate dispute ought to have been adjudicated by CIT(A)-18, Chennai. Accordingly, we are of the considered view that the appellate orders dated 13.06.2025 for AY-2008-09 and 2009-10 passed u/s 23 of wealth tax Act 1957 are invalid orders and therefore hereby declared as null and void. Consequently, we quash the impugned appellate orders and allow the ground of appeal no.2 raised in both the appeals viz WTA-5/2025 and WTA-6/2025 which concern the legality of jurisdiction. 7.0 As the assessee has succeeded on legal grounds, the grounds of appeal nos. 3 to 7 in both the appeals viz WTA-5/2025 and WTA- Printed from counselvise.com WTA No.5 & 6 /Chny/2025 Page - 6 - of 6 6/2025 which are w.r.t. merits of the addition have become purely academic in nature and hence kept open. 8.0 In the result, the appeals nos.WTA-5/2025 and WTA-6/2025 of the assessee are allowed. Order pronounced on 6th , November-2025 at Chennai. Sd/- (एबी टी. वर्की) (ABY T VARKEY) न्याधयक सदस्य / Judicial Member Sd/- (अधमताभ शुक्ला) (AMITABH SHUKLA) लेखा सदस्य /Accountant Member चेन्नई/Chennai, धदनांक/Dated: 6th , November-2025. KB/- आदेश की प्रतितिति अग्रेतिि/Copy to: 1. अिीिार्थी/Appellant 2. प्रत्यर्थी/Respondent 3. आयकर आयुक्त/CIT - Chennai/Coimbatore/Madurai/Salem. 4. तिभागीय प्रतितिति/DR 5. गार्ड फाईि/GF Printed from counselvise.com "