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Journalism of Courage
Worried over rising criticism of the tax department over frivolous appeals filed by the officials, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has directed its officials to “exercise caution” while granting authorisation for filing of appeals as it is “tarnishing the image of the department and straining resources”.
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In an order issued on July 3, the board said that the significance of filing appeal and “pursuing litigation only in deserving cases cannot be over-emphasized, more so in the backdrop of the fact that department is facing shortage of officers at all levels. It is imperative that the available resources are optimally utilised to obtain maximum benefit out of litigation.”
Saying that despite several instructions, necessary due diligence was not being exercised, department said that in several decisions, courts have taken an adverse view of the department. For instance, the order said, in one case of Prescon Builders Pvt Ltd, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai, stated that the very fact that the assessing officer filed the appeals without even verifying the year, mentioned in the ground of appeal, indicated appeals were filed in a routine manner, causing lot of inconvenience to the tax payers.
