“Situs” of Assessing Officer Determines Territorial Jurisdiction: ITAT Delhi Rejects Hilton Agra’s Appeal [Read Order]
The ITAT, at the outset noted that jurisdiction formed the fundamental issue of the case.
![“Situs” of Assessing Officer Determines Territorial Jurisdiction: ITAT Delhi Rejects Hilton Agra’s Appeal [Read Order]](https://images.taxscan.in/h-upload/2026/05/08/2135985-site-img8-6jpg.webp "“Situs” of Assessing Officer Determines Territorial Jurisdiction: ITAT Delhi Rejects Hilton Agra’s Appeal [Read Order]")
The Delhi Bench ofthe Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) recently dismissed an appeal filed by a member-hotel of the Hilton group at Agra, holding that the Delhi Benches lacked territorial jurisdiction to entertain the matter since the assessee’s regular assessment jurisdiction was at Agra. The assessee, M/s Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Agra, a unit of Archer Hospitality...
The Delhi Bench ofthe Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) recently dismissed an appeal filed by a member-hotel of the Hilton group at Agra, holding that the Delhi Benches lacked territorial jurisdiction to entertain the matter since the assessee’s regular assessment jurisdiction was at Agra.
The assessee, M/s Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Agra, a unit of Archer Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., instituted the appeal against an order passed by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals)/National Faceless Appeal Centre against proceedings arising under Section 271C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, for the Assessment Year 2016-17.
Though the case was called twice, none appeared on behalf of Hilton, prompting the Tribunal to proceed ex parte against the assessee. The Bench however condoned the delay of eight days in filing the appeal in the larger interest of justice and in light of the Supreme Court ruling in Collector, Land Acquisition vs. Mst. Katiji & Others (1987).
The ITAT Bench of Satbeer Singh Godara, Judicial Member and Naveen Chandra, Accountant Member identified that the first and fundamental issue to be addressed was that the current ITAT Bench exercises jurisdiction in Delhi while the assessee’s regular assessment jurisdiction was at Agra.
Without ado, the Tribunal referred to Paragraph 4 of the Standing Order issued under the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Rules, 1963 which affirms that the governing territorial jurisdiction of various ITAT Benches is determined as per the “location of the office of the Assessing Officer”.
The Tribunal further relied upon the ruling of the Supreme Court in PCIT vs. ABC Papers Ltd. (2022) wherein the Apex Court held that the “situs” of the Assessing Officer framing the assessment constitutes the decisive factor for determining territorial jurisdiction.
Accordingly, the Bench concluded that the Delhi Bench did not possess requisite territorial jurisdiction to adjudicate Hilton’s matter and dismissed the appeal. However it was advised that, should the assessee opt to file a fresh appeal before the appropriate benches, the delay caused therein would stand condoned.
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