The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) will set up Bench camps in Jammu and Srinagar for easy accessibility and speedy disposal of cases from the Union Territory.
ITAT President Justice P. P. Bhatt (retired) on Thursday said
Presently, litigants from the region have to approach its Amritsar Bench. In all, 235 cases from the region are pending disposal.
Justice Bhatt said he had informally suggested to the Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman that there should be a mechanism in the form of arbitration and mediation, so that certain types of cases could be settled through alternative dispute resolution mechanism. He also discussed the issue with the Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur.
Both welcomed the suggestion and were in principle in agreement with it, said Justice Bhatt. The government, he said, could come up with a legal framework. ITAT had volunteered to recommend the possible modalities. “It is better to have a statutory format so that it can be properly implemented.”
Justice Bhatt said the Tribunal had sent recommendations for induction of more members, as there were 42 vacancies compared to the sanctioned strength of 126. As on January 1, 2020, there were 89,412 pending appeal matters in ITAT.
This financial year, till December 31, the Tribunal disposed of 41,340 cases, while 37,956 new ones were instituted during the period.
ITAT is organising a two-day All-India Members’ Conference in the national capital from January 24. The conference will be inaugurated by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde in the presence of Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
