JUDGMENT :

PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA, J.

1. These appeals give rise to an important question concerning appellate jurisdiction of the High Courts under Section 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961¹[hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’.] against judgments of Income Tax Appellate Tribunals²[hereinafter referred to as ‘ITAT’ / ‘Tribunals’.]. As Benches of the ITAT are constituted to exercise jurisdiction over more than one state, each state having a separate High Court, question arose as to which of the High Court is the appropriate Court for filing appeals under Section 260A. The question arose because Section 260A is open-textual and does not specify the High Court before which an appeal would lie in cases where Tribunals operated for plurality of States. This question came to be conclusively answered by the High Court of Delhi in the case of Seth Banarsi Dass Gupta v. Commissioner of Income Tax, (1978) 113 ITR 817 (Del)., wherein it was held that the appropriate High Court would be the one where the Assessing Authority is situated. This judgment continuous to hold the field.

2. In these appeals, a further question that arise for consideration is the jurisdiction of the High Court conseq