Appeal to the Appellate Tribunal

(1) Any officer empowered by the Government in this behalf or any other person objecting to an order passed by the Appellate Assistant Commissioner under sub-section (3) of section 34 and any person objecting to an order passed by the Deputy Commissioner under sub-section (1) of section 35 and any person objecting to an order passed by the Inspecting Assistant Commissioner under clause (c) of sub-section (4) of section 28 may, within a period of sixty days from the date on which the order was served on him in the manner prescribed, appeal against such order to the Appellate Tribunal: Provided that the Appellate Tribunal may admit an appeal presented after the expiration of the said period if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not presenting the appeal within the said period. (2) The officer authorised under sub-section (1) or the person against whom an appeal has been preferred, as the case may be, on receipt of notice that an appeal against the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner has been preferred under sub-section (1) by the other party, may, notwithstanding that he has not appealed against such order or any part thereof, file, within thirty days of the receipt of the notice, a memorandum of cross-objections, verified, in the prescribed manner, against any part of the order of the Appellate Assistant Commissioner, and such memorandum shall be disposed of by the Appellate Tribunal as if it were an appeal presented within the time specified in sub-section (1). (3) The appeal or the memorandum of cross-objections shall be in the prescribed form and shall be verified in the prescribed manner and, in the case of an appeal preferred by any person other than an officer empowered by the Government under sub-section (1), it shall be accompanied by such fee not exceeding one hundred rupees as may be prescribed. (4) In disposing of an appeal, the Appellate Tribunal may, after giving the parties a reasonable opportunity of being heard either in person or by a representative,- (a) in the case of an order of assessment or penalty,- (i) confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment or penalty or both; (ii) set aside the assessment and direct the assessing authority to make a fresh assessment after such further enquiry as may be directed; or (iii) pass such other orders as it may think fit; or (b) in the case of any other order, confirm, cancel or vary such order. Provided that, if the appeal involves a question of law on which the Appellate Tribunal has previously given its decision in another appeal and either a revision petition in the High Court against such decision or an appeal in the Supreme Court against the order of the High Court thereon is pending, the Appellate Tribunal may defer the hearing of the appeal before it, till such revision petition in the High Court or the appeal in the Supreme Court is disposed of. (5) Where as a result of the appeal any change becomes necessary in the order appealed against, the Appellate Tribunal may authorise the assessing authority to amend such order accordingly and on such amendment being made any amount overpaid by the appellant shall be refunded to him or the further amount of tax, if any, due from him shall be collected in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (6) Notwithstanding that an appeal has been preferred under sub-section (1), the tax shall be paid in accordance with the order of assessment against which the appeal has been preferred: Provided that the Appellate Tribunal may, in its discretion, give such directions as it thinks fit in regard to the payment of the tax before the disposal of the appeal, if the appellant furnishes sufficient security to its satisfaction in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed. (7) (a) The appellant or the respondent may apply for review of any order passed by the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (4) on the basis of the discovery of new and important facts which after the exercise of due diligence were not within his knowledge or could not be produced by him when the order was made: Provided that no such application shall be preferred more than once in respect of the same order. (b) The application for review shall be preferred in the prescribed manner and within one year from the date on which a copy of the order to which the application relates was served on the applicant in the manner prescribed, and, where the application is preferred by any person other than an officer empowered by the Government under sub-section (1), it shall be accompanied by such fee not exceeding one hundred rupees as may be prescribed. (8) Every order passed by the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (4) or sub-section (7) shall be communicated in the manner prescribed to the appellant, the respondent, the authority from whose order the appeal was preferred, the Deputy Commissioner concerned if he is not such authority and the Board of Revenue.