Report No. 12
90. Appellate Tribunal.-
The position, however, of the appeals to the Appellate Tribunal and the disposals made by them is entirely different. We feel that the existing system of appeals to the Appellate Tribunal and thereafter a reference to the High Court on a question of law either under section 36(1) or under section 66(2), is very cumbersome and causes unnecessary delay in disposing of the appeals so as to finalise the assessments. We have obtained State-wise figures regarding the institution of the appeals before the Appellate Tribunal and of the Reference Applications under section 66(1) and section 66(2) for the years 1955-56 and 1956-57. During the year 1955-56 the total number of appeals instituted in the Appellate Tribunal was 8,553. The State-wise figures are given below:-
| Andhra | 290 |
| Ajmer | 55 |
| Assam | 106 |
| Bhopal | 39 |
| Bihar | 572 |
| Bengal | 972 |
| Bombay | 1912 |
| Coorg | ... |
| Delhi | 283 |
| Hyderabad | 205 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 8 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | 129 |
| Kutch | ... |
| Madhya Pradesh | 206 |
| Madhya Bharat | 30 |
| Madras | 1746 |
| Mysore | 110 |
| Orissa | 115 |
| Punjab | 324 |
| PEPSU | 111 |
| Rajasthan | 86 |
| Saurashtra | 37 |
| Travancore-Cochin | 115 |
| Tripura | 1 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 1047 |
| Vindhya Pradesh | 54 |
| Total | 8553 |
The number of Reference Applications under section 66(1) during the year 1955-1956 was 1,080 as per statement below:-
| States | Reference application Under section 66(1) | High Courts' Order under section 66(2) in respect of ref. applications | ||||||
| No. disposed of | ||||||||
| No. outstanding at the beginning of the year | No. instituted during the year | Referred to High Court | Rejected | Total | No. of cases outstanding at the beginning of the year | No. of cases received during the year from the High Courts | ||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Bombay | 91 | 275 .. | .. | 201 | 11 | 21 | 20 | |
| Madhya Pradesh | 8 | 14 | .. | .. | 20 | 4 | 7 | 8 |
| Bhopal | 1 | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. |
| Saurashtra | 2 | 10 | .. | .. | 7 | .. | 1 | .. |
| Kutch | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Andhra | 32 | 34 | .. | .. | 50 | 17 | 38 | 86 |
| Hyderabad | 53 | 12 | .. | .. | 30 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 31 | 50 | .. | .. | 58 | 8 | .. | 7 |
| Vindhya Pradesh | .. | 4 | .. | .. | 4 | 1 | .. | .. |
| Madras | 71 | 286 | .. | .. | 214 | 66 | 108 | 91 |
| Travancore-Cochin | 2 | 23 | .. | .. | 5 | 5 | 9 | 11 |
| Mysore | 3 | 59 | .. | .. | 57 | .. | 3 | .. |
| Coorg | .. | 2 | .. | .. | 2 | .. | .. | .. |
| West Bengal | 11 | 85 | .. | .. | 76 | .. | 18 | 12 |
| Assam | .. | 20 | .. | .. | 19 | .. | 1 | .. |
| Delhi | 4 | 58 | .. | .. | 48 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Punjab | 12 | 55 | .. | .. | 36 | .. | .. | .. |
| Rajasthan | 2 | 7 | .. | .. | 6 | .. | 2 | .. |
| Madaya Bharat | .. | 4 | .. | .. | 4 | .. | .. | .. |
| PEPSU | 4 | .. | .. | .. | 4 | .. | .. | .. |
| Himachal Pradesh | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Ajmer | 2 | 5 | .. | .. | 6 | .. | .. | .. |
| Bihar | 5 | 44 | .. | .. | 49 | 13 | 17 | 19 |
| Orissa | 13 | 30 | .. | .. | 39 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | .. | 3 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Total | 347 | 1080 | 313 | 623 | 936 | 134 | 232 | 218 |
Note.- Figures in columns 7, 8 and 9 include cases in which High Courts' Orders under sections 66(3) and 66(4) were received. However, the number of cases under sections 66(3) and 66(4) is quite small.
[In cases in which the reference applications were rejected by the Appellate Tribunal under section 66(1), the matter came up to the High Court under section 66(2) and the number of such applications during the year 1955-1956 was 2321.
91. A statement of the appeals instituted during the year 1956-57 is given below (State-wise figures are not available):-
956-57
Appeals instituted in the year 1956-57
| Appeal by assessee | Appeal by department | |
| Bombay Bench A | 2636 | 380 |
| Bench B | .. | .. |
| Bench C | .. | .. |
| Allahabad Bench | 1193 | 55 |
| Madras Bench | 1823 | 75 |
| Calcutta Bench | 1186 | 143 |
| Delhi-Bench | 908 | 91 |
| Patna Bench | 529 | 3 |
| Hyderabad Bench | 419 | 52 |
| Total | 8694 | 799 |
| Total | 9493 |
These figures comprise appeals by the assessees and also by the Department. The appeals instituted by the assessees were 8,694 and by the Department 799, in all 9,493.
The number of Reference applications under section 66(1) filed during the year (1956-1957) was 1,014, as per statement below:-
State-wise statement showing institution, disposal and pendency of Reference Applications before the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal Bombay, during the year 1956-57.
| States | Reference application under section 66(1) | High Courts' Orders under section 66(2) in respect of ref. applications | ||||||
| No. of disposed of | ||||||||
| No. outstanding at the beginning of the year | No. instituted during the year | Referred to High Courts | Rejected | Total | No. of cases outstanding at the beginning of the year | No. of cases received during the year from the High Courts | No. of cases stated in compliance with High Courts | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Bombay | 165 | 332 | 286 | 12 | 19 | 24 | ||
| Madhya Pradesh | 2 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Bhopal | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Saurashtra | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Hyderabad | 35 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Andhra | 16 | 37 | 31 | 19 | 16 | 20 | ||
| Kutch | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Uttar Pradesh | 23 | 84 | 66 | 1 | 39 | 32 | ||
| Vindhya Pradesh | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. |
| Madras | 143 | 157 | 243 | 83 | 82 | 135 | ||
| Travancore-Cochin | 20 | 24 | 28 | 3 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Mysore | 5 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 3 | .. | ||
| PEPSU | .. | 3 | .. | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Coorg | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ||
| West Bengal | 20 | 162 | 160 | 6 | 18 | 22 | ||
| Assam | 1 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tripura | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Delhi | 14 | 31 | 28 | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Punjab | 31 | 42 | 40 | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Jammu & Kashmir | 3 | 2 | 3 | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Rajasthan | 3 | 13 | 9 | 2 | .. | 2 | ||
| Madhya Bharat | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. | .. | ||
| Himachal Pradesh | .. | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Ajmer | 1 | 16 | 3 | .. | 3 | 3 | ||
| Bihar | .. | 57 | 48 | 11 | 7 | 18 | ||
| Orissa | 4 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||
| Total | 491 | 1014 | 360 | 625 | 985 | 148 | 205 | 282 |
Note.- Figures in columns 7, 8 & 9 include cases in which High Courts' Orders under sections 66(3) and 66(4) were received. However, the number of cases under sections 66(3) and 66(4) is quite small.
[Out of the applications rejected by the Tribunal, 205 cases were taken up to the High Court under section 66(2)].
92. The average, therefore, of the appeals instituted before the Tribunal may be taken up roughly at 10,000 per year. The largest number of appeals is from Bombay. Madras, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal also contribute a large number of appeals. In other States, except in Bihar where the number is nearly 600 per year, the number of appeals instituted is comparatively small.
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