The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal must strictly adhere to the timelines prescribed in Rule 34 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963, ensuring judgments are delivered within 60 to 90 days to prevent the injustice of repeated hearings for litigants.

P.C.:

1. Respondent No.1 is the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, ‘I’ Bench Mumbai. Considering the prayer put-forth, we do not find that a notice is necessary to be issued to the Tribunal. Respondent No.2 is the Income Tax Officer (IT) represented by Counsel.

2. An issue raised in this Petition is in relation to Rule 34 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963. This Rule pertains to ‘order to be pronounced, signed and dated’. For ready reference, we are reproducing Rule 34 hereunder :-

“Order to be pronounced, signed and dated

34. (1)The order of the Bench shall be in writing and shall be signed and dated by the Members constituting it.

(2) The Members constituting the Bench or, in the event of their absence by retirement or otherwise, the Vice-President, Senior Vice-President or the President may mark an order as fit for publication.

(3) Where a case is referred under sub-section (4) of section 255, the order of the Member or Members to whom it is referred shall be signed and dated by him or them, as the case may be.

(4) The Bench shall pronounce its orders in the Court.

However, where the Bench is not functioning or for any other good reason the pronouncement of order in the Court is not possible or practicable, a list of such order(s) shall be prepared duly signed by the Members showing the result of the appeal and the same would be put on the Notice Board of the Bench and it shall be deemed pronouncement of the order.

(5) The pronouncement may be in any of the following manners :-

(a) The Bench may pronounce the order immediately upon the conclusion of the hearing.

(b) In case where the order is not pronounced immediately on the conclusion of the hearing, the Bench shall give a date for pronouncement.

(c) In a case where no date of pronouncement is given by the Bench, every endeavour shall be made by the Bench to pronounce the order within 60 days from the date on which the hearing of the case was concluded but, where it is not practicable so to do on the ground of exceptional and extraordinary circumstances of the case, the Bench shall fix a future day for pronouncement of the order, and such date shall not ordinarily be a day beyond a further period of 30 days and due notice of the day so fixed shall be given on the notice board.

(6) The order of the Bench shall ordinarily be pronounced by the Members who heard the appeal. However, if the said Members or any of them is or are not available for pronouncement for any reason, then the order will be pronounced by such Member or Members as may be nominated by the President, Senior Vice- President, Vice-President, or Senior Member, as the case may be.

(7) In the case where the order is ready in every respect and can be made available to the parties, the Bench may advance the date of pronouncement and put this information on the notice board and the order shall be pronounced accordingly.

(8) In a case where the order cannot be pronounced on the date given, the date of pronouncement may be deferred, subject to sub-rule (5)(c) above, to a further date and information thereof shall be given on the notice board.”

3. The learned Advocate for the Petitioner brings to our notice that an Appeal registered with the Tribunal at Mumbai was heard by a Bench (Coram: Rahul Chaudhary, Judicial Member and Vikram Singh Yadav, Accountant Member). The matter was closed for