[Faceless Appeal Scheme] Will stay appeals demanding physical hearing: Centre to Bombay High Court

The Central government on Tuesday informed the Bombay High Court that it was willing to stay its hands on the those appeals being heard under the Faceless Appeal Scheme where the appellants were specifically praying for physical hearings (Chamber of Tax Consultants v. Central Board of Direct Taxes & Anr)..This submission from the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Revenue, came after the High Court had granted time to Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh to confirm whether a statement on staying hearings under the scheme was made before the Supreme Court..Accordingly, ASG Singh informed the Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik about the instructions he received on staying the appeals where the appellants were seeking physical hearings. He clarified that this submission was being made after speaking to department officials. .Advocates Vipul Joshi and Dharan Gandhi appearing for the petitioner informed the Court that this statement was contrary to the statement made before the Supreme Court. On this point, the Bench asked ASG Singh,"Why should other appeals also be heard and disposed of? There will be people who may have agreed for hearing as per the scheme without comprehending the damage that may ensue.".ASG Singh clarified that there seemed to be a miscommunication, and that his submission was made after taking all appropriate instructions. He pointed out that when the statement was made in the Supreme Court, approximately 46,000 appeals had already been disposed of. .The Court was hearing a plea filed by the Chamber of Tax Consultants challenging two notifications issued in 2020 by which the Faceless Appeal Scheme was rolled out. The petitioners had also assailed subsections (6B), (6C) and (6D) of Section 250 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the ground that the same are arbitrary..The Bench asked when the Scheme had been enforced and about the date of filing the writ petition. Joshi informed the Court that the Scheme had been enforced on September 29, 2020, and even though the petition had been filed in the later part of August this year, there were representations filed. .ASG Singh, however, pointed out that there was a sizeable number of appeals where there was no demand for in-person hearings, and those could proceed. This submission by the Centre took care of the grievance of those appellants who wanted physical hearings. .Agreeing with the ASG's submission, the Bench stated that while it would pass orders recording the submissions which have come from the Centre, it will begin hearing the PIL from January 4, 2022. "If you stay the enactment of the appeal, that is more or less a final relief in this PIL. We may grant interim reliefs, but that could happen in very rare petitions. Instead of today, we are hearing on January 4," the Bench said. Before concluding, the Bench added: "Those who want personal hearing, their hearings will not be conducted; but those who want their appeals to be heard and disposed of, why should we stop them?".Upon the insistence of the petitioners to permit Senior Advocate Arvind Datar to make a few submissions in the case, the Court stated that it would list the matter tomorrow. However, there was no assurance that the final hearing could begin as the Bench was in the midst of hearing part-heard matters.