Case Law Details
CIT Vs M/s. TCL India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (Bombay High Court)
Hon’ble High Court Observed that The issues which arise before this Court have at times huge tax implications and as the decision rendered in one case would have a bearing on all similar matters across the State, the importance of proper appointment is paramount. One possible way forward would be to also include the State’s law officers such as the Additional Solicitor General and Advocate General in the selection/screening panel. They would also be aware of the meritorious Advocates, who may not be inclined to make an application to be empaneled, but if invited, could be willing to accept the appointments. This would be more particularly so in respect of designated Senior Advocates. It is indeed sad, that the Revenue does not have a single designated Senior Advocate on its panel to represent its interest before this Court.
Further, the Instruction No. 3/2012 dated 11th April, 2012 of the CBDT also sets out the parameters of performance of the counsel for renewal of his appointment, one of the criteria mentioned therein is the number of cases won by the Counsel for the Income Tax department. This can never be a measure of competence of an Advocate i.e. an officer of the Court. In fact, the quality of the Advocate would be best judged by his performance and not in the result of the litigation. This evaluation can take place only when the Advocate is seen in action. We find that when the Advocates appear before us, very rarely are the Assessing Officer or other Officers involved in the litigation present in Court. In case, they are present, they would be able to give feedback to the Commissioner of Income Tax which could be factored in while briefing him and / or renewing his engagement.
In fact it is because of present parameters of number of cases won,being the basis of renewal, that we have had occasions when Advocates persist in arguing matters which otherwise are covered, by seeking to make distinctions which do not exist. This also leads them to becoming mouthpiece of the department completely forgetting their obligation to the Court as its Officer.
There are a large number of appeals filed by the Revenue from the orders of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. However, we find that the distribution of work amongst the panel lawyers is not equitable and also without any consideration of the issue of law involved vis-a-vis the experience of the Advocate briefed. Moreover, we find that most matters are distributed amongst a few Advocates with the result we have occasions where a single Advocate appears in eight/nine matters a day. This indeed is expecting the moon from the panel Advocate. Resultantly, the preparation suffers, leading to inadequate performance. It would therefore be appropriate to have more number of Advocates on the panel and distribute work amongst them. This would at least give an opportunity to the Advocate to prepare properly for appropriate representation.
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