ITAT to Launch e-courts in Four Cities from Dec 10The Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal will launch e-courts in four cities from December 10
to facilitate hearing of cases via videoconferencing. The tribunal, a
quasi-judicial body, has set up webcast facilities at Delhi, Mumbai,
Nagpur and Ahmedabad, a first in the history of tax judiciary in India.
In a note, ITAT said the ecourts will follow the procedures that are
laid out for the bench for hearing appeals in an open court. There is no
difference in procedures except that the bench and bar are at different
places connected electronically, the note said. ITAT president HL Karwa
said the
e-courts will help in clearing backlog of cases. Such
facilities are expected to speed up the process of deciding the appeals,
he said, adding, At present 68, 000 appeals are pending before the
ITAT. The piled up cases can be decided within one year, considering
that we have 75 ITAT members. Karwa said if the e-court experiment is
successful, ITAT would extend the facility to other centres. He said
from next month onwards, the notice for hearing will clearly mention
whether it will take place in an e-court or regular court. –
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