Reference to High Court
If either the taxpayer or the Commissioner Inland Revenue is not satisfied with the decision of the Appellate Tribunal, he may prefer an application to the High Court. The application should be in the prescribed form and should include the statement of case stating any question of law arising out of the orders of Appellate Tribunal. This application should be filed within ninety days of the communication of orders of the Appellate Tribunal
If the High Court is satisfied that a question of law arises out of the orders of Appellate Tribunal, it may proceed to hear the case.
Such a case shall be heard by a bench consisting of a minimum of two judges of the High Court. The High Court will decide the question of law raised by the reference. Its judgement will specify the ground on which such judgement is based. The Tribunal’s orders shall stand modified accordingly. The Court will send a copy of the judgement under the seal of Court to the Appellate Tribunal.
If the appeal is being filed by the taxpayer, a fee of Rs. 100 should accompany the application. No fee is required to be paid if the appeal is being made by the Commissioner Inland Revenue.
If the reference has been filed before the High Court it will not affect the recovery of tax which will be payable in accordance with the assessment made as Dfa Ho modified by the order of the Appellate Tribunal. However, if the recovery of the tax has been stayed by the High Court, by an order, such a
recovery will not be made. The High Court enjoys full discretion regarding the costs of appeal.
