Procedure of Appellate Tribunal.

1. (1) The powers and functions of the Appellate Tribunal may be exercised and discharged by Benches constituted by the President of the Appellate Tribunal from among the members thereof.
2. (2) Subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (3), a Bench shall consist of one judicial member and one accountant member.
3. (3) The President or any other member of the Appellate Tribunal authorised in this behalf by the Central Government may, sitting singly, dispose of any case which has been allotted to the Bench of which he is a member and which pertains to an assessee whose total income as computed by the 5[Assessing Officer] in the case does not exceed 6[fifty lakh rupees], and the President may, for the disposal of any particular case, constitute a Special Bench consisting of three or more members, one of whom shall necessarily be a judicial member and one an accountant member.
4. (4) If the members of a Bench differ in opinion on any point, the point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority, if there is a majority, but if the members are equally divided, they shall state the point or points on which they differ, and the case shall be referred by the President of the Appellate Tribunal for hearing on such point or points by one or more of the other members of the Appellate Tribunal, and such point or points shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members of the Appellate Tribunal who have heard the case, including those who first heard it.
5. (5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Appellate Tribunal shall have power to regulate its own procedure and the procedure of Benches thereof in all matters arising out of the exercise of its powers or of the discharge of its functions, including the places at which the Benches shall hold their sittings.
6. (6) The Appellate Tribunal shall, for the purpose of discharging its functions, have all the powers which are vested in the income-tax authorities referred to in section 131, and any proceeding before the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 and for the purpose of section 196 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), and the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a civil court for all the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXXV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898). 2. The words “Chief Commissioner or” omitted by Act 49 of 1991, s. 67 (w.e.f. 27-9-1991). 4. The words, figures and letter shall stand substituted (date to be notified) by Act 49 of 2005, s. 30 and the Schedule to read as “Save as provided in the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005” (This amendment has been struck down by the Supreme Court’s Order dated 25th September, 2014 in the Madras Bar Association Vs. Union of India.) Earlier “section 256 or section 260A” was substituted for “section 256” by Act 27 of 1999, s. 86 (w.e.f. 1-6-1999). 1[C. Reference to High Court

¹ Subs. by Act 4 of 1988, s. 2, for “Commissioner” (w.e.f. 1-4-1988).

³ Subs. by Act 25 of 2014, s. 4, for “Commissioner” (w.e.f. 1-6-2013).

⁵ Subs. by Act 4 of 1988, s. 2, for “Income-tax Officer” (w.e.f. 1-4-1988).

⁶ Subs. by Act 28 of 2016, s. 97, for “fifteen lakh rupees” (w.e.f. 1-6-2016).