Section 133: Reference to High Court

1[133. Reference to High Court. — (1) 2[ ] 3[Within sixty] days of the communication of the order of the Appellate Tribunal 4[ ], the aggrieved person or the Commissioner may file a reference, in the prescribed form along with a statement of the case, before the High Court, stating any question of law 5[ ] arising out of such order: Provided that the applicant shall also file complete record of the Appellate Tribunal 6[ ] 7[ ] within fifteen days of preferring an application under this section. 1[ ] 2[ ] (2) The statement to the High Court referred to in sub-section (1), shall set out the facts, the determination of the Appellate Tribunal 3[ ] 4[ ] and the question of law 5[ ] which arises out of its order. (3) Where, on an application made under sub-section (1), the High Court is satisfied that a question of law 6[ ] arises out of such order referred to in sub- section (1), it may proceed to hear the case. (4) A reference to the High Court under this section shall be heard by Special Bench or the Special Benches, as the case may be, to be constituted by the Chief Justice, as deemed necessary for hearing cases under this section, comprising of not less than two judges of the High Court and, in respect of the reference, the provisions of section 98 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908), shall apply, so far as may be, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force. (5) The Special Bench shall decide a reference within six months from the date of its filing. (6) The High Court shall establish a case management system to ensure that sufficient number of Special Benches are constituted, so as to ensure that a reference filed under this section is decided within the stipulated six months. (7) The High Court upon hearing a reference under this section shall decide the question of law 7[ ] raised by the reference and pass judgment thereon specifying the grounds on which such judgment is based and the Appellate Tribunal's order 8[ ] 9[ ] shall stand modified accordingly. (8) The High Court shall send a copy of the judgment under the seal of the High Court to the Appellate Tribunal 1[ ]. (9) Notwithstanding that a reference has been made to the High Court, the tax shall be payable in accordance with the order of the Appellate Tribunal 2[ ]: Provided that the tax recovery shall not be made by the Commissioner for thirty days from the date of communication of the order of the Appellate Tribunal 3[ ]: Provided further that, if the amount of tax is reduced as a result of the judgment in the reference by the High Court and some amount of tax is found to be refundable, the High Court may, on application by the Commissioner within thirty days of the receipt of the judgment of the High Court that he wants to prefer petition for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, make an order authorizing the Commissioner to postpone the refund until the disposal of the appeal by the Supreme Court. (10) On an application filed in a particular reference and after affording an opportunity of being heard to the Commissioner, the High Court may stay recovery of tax, subject to deposit with the assessing authority of not less than thirty percent of the tax determined by the Appellate Tribunal 4[ ] 5[ ]. Where recovery of tax has been stayed by the High Court by an order, such order shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of six months following the day on which it was made unless the reference is decided or such order is withdrawn by the High Court earlier. (11) Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1908 (IX of 1908), shall apply to an application made to the High Court under sub-section (1). (12) An application under sub-section (1) 6[, by the aggrieved person other than the Commissioner,] shall be accompanied by a fee of fifty thousand rupees. (13) No application filed by the Commissioner under subsection (1) shall be entertained unless it is accompanied by a written authorization by the relevant Chief Commissioner.] 1[ ] 2[ ] (8) If the Committee fails to decide within the period of one hundred and twenty days under sub-section (5), the Board shall dissolve the committee by an order in writing and the matter shall be decided by the court of law or the Appellate Authority which issued the order of withdrawal under sub-section (4) and the appeal shall be treated to be pending before such court of law or the Appellate Authority as if the appeal had never been withdrawn. (9) The Board shall communicate the order of dissolution to the court of law or the Appellate Authority and the Commissioner. (10) The aggrieved person, on receipt of the order of dissolution, shall communicate it to the court of law or the Appellate Authority, which shall decide the appeal within six months of the communication of said order. (11) The aggrieved person may make the payment of income tax and other taxes as decided by the committee under sub-section (5) and all decisions, orders and judgments made or passed shall stand modified to that extent. (12) The Board may prescribe the amount to be paid as remuneration for the services of the members of the Committee, other than the member appointed under clause (i) of sub-section (2). (13) The Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this section.

Effective date: 2001-09-13

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