Procedure of Appellate Tribunal.
50255. (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) Subject to the
provisions contained in sub-section (3), a Bench shall consist of one judicial
member and one accountant member.
(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 51[Assessing] Officer in the
case does not exceed 52[five hundred
thousand 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) 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.
53(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) 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