The Supreme Court of India directed Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) to ensure that the appeals are e- filed and not physically filed.
In pursuance of the previous order passed by the Supreme Court, appearing for the Union of India,Balbir Singh, Additional Solicitor General has placed a note on the record which stated that E-filing of appeals has not been enabled in the High Courts of Allahabad, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gauhati, Manipur, Tripura, and Meghalaya and that only in the last year nearly 62% of appeals have been filed before the High Courts in e-filing mode.
The Report also stated that in the last year only 1% of appeals have been filed before the ITAT in e-filing mode but during that period not much ITAT were enabled for electronic filing. The report also indicated that as of date, even after e-filing, the ITAT is insisting on physical submission of appeals and 90.29% of cases under falling the jurisdiction of the Chief Commissionerate have been e-filed. The e-filing module developed by NIC for CESTAT has been tested during the first week of March 2023 and its module is undergoing security audit.
The Coram comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala noted that “As regards the ITAT, it is incumbent on the tribunal to ensure that revenue appeals are filed only in the e-filing mode and a target date of 30 June 2023 should be set down. The Ministry of Finance shall depute a senior officer to engage with the Acting President of the ITAT. If the rules are required to be amended, they should be amended to incorporate e-filing requirements.”
The Bench also observed that “It would defeat the purpose if in addition to e-filing, the ITATs insist on filing of the appeals in the physical mode. This has to be discontinued since it imposes an unnecessary burden on litigants. If there is a training deficit in respect of the Members of the ITAT, this shall be attended to immediately so that all Members of the ITAT are equipped to handle e-filed cases.”
While concluding the Court also appreciated the work which has been carried out by the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) and would request the President of the Tribunal to ensure that e-filing is implemented by 30 June 2023.
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