20.06.2008
Shri. Vimal Gandhi,
President,
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

C I R C U L A R

I am enclosing a copy of Code of Ethics adopted by the judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts. Although the Sr. Vice-President / Vice-President/ Member of the Tribunal who also discharge judicial function are not strictly governed by the above code of ethics, it is desirable to follow the above code of ethics to maintain the highest standard of credibility in our day-to-day functioning.

I, therefore direct the Sr. vice-President/Vice-President/ member of the Tribunal to scrupulously follow the above guidelines in the code of ethics to maintain the highest standard of value in judicial service and there should be no deviation in this regard.

Encl. As Above

(Vimal Gandhi)
PRESIDENT

To
The Sr. Vice-President/ Vice- President/
Member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

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Shri. Vimal Gandhi,
President,
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Dear Brother,

ITAT has always been known for the high quality of its orders. Our orders have received praise form judge including sitting judge of the Supreme Court, who sit in appeal over them. However, of late I am concerned to note that some of the High court has criticized our lack of quality, detailed reasoning, non-recording of basic or vital facts and the arguments etc. I know that these are only exception to the general rules that we pass well-reasoned and speaking order. I am also aware of the pains and efforts taken by Members in general to pass quality orders and that wherever they slip, it is not intentional. It is however, unfortunate that adverse publicity is sought to be given only to the small percentage of orders, which suffer in quality. I am afraid that an Uninformed person may draw wrong conclusions form such publicity and may be misled to think that we are, in general not passing proper and speaking orders. That is a situation, which I want to avoid, if I can help it. I want to remove this impression whither it is carried by higher courts or by the public or the members of the Bar. I, therefore, thought it necessary to take measures to ensure that every single order we pass meets the requirements of a speaking order. One such measure which was actively debated and decided in the conference of the Vice-Presidents recently held in Mumbai was to reduce the monthly disposal-target to 50, but with the understanding the a Members will pay utmost attention to the quality of the orders they pass and will not give room for any criticism from any quarters.

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N O T I C E

IT IS HEREBY NOTIFIED for the information of the Advocates and parties appearing-in-person that with effect from Wednesday, 18 th June, 2008 :-

1. the following Hon’ble Division Benches will hear Original Side Tax Appeals for Admission and Interlocutory Applications therein and Notice of Motion taken out for condonation of delay. The lists of the said matters are displayed on the Notice Board of the Appeal Branch as well as on the Internet.

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Letter dated 6th June 2008 written by Shri. S. E. Dastur, Senior Advocate, to The Editor, The Federation of Tax Practitioners Journal.

The Editor
The Federation of Tax Practitioners Journal
215 Rewa Chambers
31 New Marine Lines
Mumbai 400020.

Dear Sir,

The Bombay edition of The Times dated 15th May, 2008 carried a news item concerning a bribe allegedly offered to a member of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal based in Kolkata by an advocate. Several outstation newspapers and magazines (though not Bombay based publications) have reported subsequent developments.

It is indeed unfortunate that such an event has occurred. One does not at all know whether there is any truth in the particular allegation of bribery and for the moment one must assume the parties to be innocent until proved guilty. What is unfortunate is that members practising in the Tribunal, at least in Mumbai, did not evince any great sense of disbelief or surprise that there could be an occurrence of this nature. In the Bar Association members recounted stories of the influence which the Advocate concerned commands and the easy access and audience he always has. It is also rumoured that he and his sons have been generous in providing hospitality to members of the Tribunal.

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The following report appeared in The Tribune of 30th May 2008:

Punjab VAT Tribunal put on notice
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 30

An inquiry conducted by chairman VAT Tribunal Punjab Justice M.M. Aggarwal (retired) into the conduct of two fellow members of the tribunal in a specific case has found both officials guilty of reversing their own orders with the presumption that the same has been done for “extraneous considerations”.

Following the submission of the inquiry report, the Department of Excise and Taxation has served a show-cause notice on the tribunal’s vice-chairman P.S. Bajaj and its member Kuldip Kumar.

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Extract of the Resolution unanimously passed at the meeting of the Managing Committee of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal Bar Association, held on 6th June, 2008 at the ITAT Bar Library, Mumbai.
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“This meeting notes the news items which state

i. that a Member of the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (Tribunal) based in Kolkata and an Advocate have been arrested by the CBI in relation to a bribe said to have been offered by the Advocate to the Member

ii. that the hard discs of 14 computers seized from the premises of the Advocate were removed prior to the seizure

iii. that the discs have been recovered from the residence of an employee of the Advocate.

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STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ETIQUETTE FOR MEMBERS OF THE ITAT BAR ASSOCIATIONS

P R E A M B L E

A member shall, at all times, conduct himself in a manner befitting his status as a privileged member of his profession and a gentleman, bearing in mind that what may be lawful and moral for a person who is not a member of the Bar, or for a member of the Bar in his non-professional capacity may still be improper for a member. He shall at all times in his dealings with the Court, tax officers, Departmental Representatives and clients act honorably and never in a manner which shows lack of honesty or probity. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing obligation, a member shall fearlessly uphold the interests of his client, and in his conduct conform to the rules hereinafter mentioned both in letter and in sprit. The rules hereinafter contain canons of conduct and etiquette adopted as general guides, yet the specific thereof shall not be construed, as a denial of the existence of others equally important imperative though not specifically mentioned.

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Shri. Vimal Gandhi with Mr. Michael Waweru, Commissioner General of Kenyan Revenue Authority and Ms. Sabina Walcott Denny, Head of Inland Revnue, Barbodas

The Special Unit for South-South Cooperation of the United Nations Development Program, in close cooperation with the Financing for Development Office of the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the New Rules for Global Finance Coalition and the Tax Justice Network conducted an international meeting on South-South Cooperation on tax for development at New York, May 22-23, 2008. The topic of the meeting was “Revenue’s Role in the Quest for Inclusive Development: What Works and What Can Work Better: South-South Sharing of Successful Tax Practices”.

Shri. Vimal Gandhi with Mr. Michael Waweru, Commissioner General of Kenya Revenue Authority and Mr. Michael Lennard, Chief of International Tax Cooperation, United Nations

The ITAT was invited to make a presentation on its successful practices and it was represented at the said meeting inter alia by the Hon’ble President Shri. Vimal Gandhi. Shri. Gandhi made a presentation on successful practices in the ITAT and the same was well received by the distinguished audience.

The participants in the meeting showed keen interest in the functioning of the ITAT and the ways and means in which this successful experiment can be replicated in other developing countries and transitional economies. The ITAT was described as the ‘greatest tax tribunal’ in the world by the UN officials and rich compliments were paid to its independence and competence.

A copy of the paper presented on behalf of the ITAT at the said meeting will be published shortly.

THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA (ICAI)
(Set up under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949)

ICAI Guidelines No.1-CA(7)/ Council Guidelines/01/2008, Dated 14th May,2008

GUIDELINES FOR ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE MEMBERS IN PRACTICE

(Issued Pursuant to Clause (7) of Part I of the First Schedule to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949.)

The Members may advertise through a write up setting out their particulars or of their firms and services provided by them subject to the following Guidelines and must be presented in such a manner as to maintain the profession’s good reputation, dignity and its ability to serve the public interest.

1. The Member(s)/Firm(s) should ensure that the contents of the Write up are true to the best of their knowledge and belief and are in conformity with these Guidelines and be aware that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India does not own any responsibility whatsoever for such contents or claims by the Writer Member(s) / Firm(s).

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