CHAPTER XX — APPEALS AND REVISION | B.—Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
CHAPTER XX — APPEALS AND REVISION | B.—Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
Section 253 — Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live. Confers the second appeal: by the assessee against specified orders (CIT(A)/JCIT(A), 263/264 revision, DRP-direction assessments, registration/approval orders, penalty orders) and by the Department; provides for cross-objections, limitation (60 days / 30 days for cross-objections) and condonation.
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment. The Finance Act, 2026 does not touch section 253.
Nature / mechanism: Gateway to the Tribunal: who may appeal and against what, the Department's appeal on the CIT's direction, the respondent's memorandum of cross-objections, limitation and condonation, and fees.
Litigation profile: Well litigated — maintainability against particular orders, independence of cross-objections, condonation of delay, and the right to raise new questions of law.
A. COMMENTARY
Who appeals, and against what
Sub-section (1) lists the orders an assessee may bring to the Tribunal: orders of the CIT(A)/JCIT(A) under sections 250/154/271/271A/272A; revision orders under section 263 and prejudicial orders under section 154; assessments made under section 143(3)/147 in pursuance of DRP directions (the direct-to-Tribunal route for eligible assessees); orders refusing or cancelling registration/approval (e.g., sections 12AA/12AB, 80G, 263). Sub-section (2) permits the Department to appeal where the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner so directs.
Cross-objections: an independent right
Sub-section (4) gives the respondent, on receipt of notice of the appeal, the right to file a memorandum of cross-objections within 30 days, which is treated as an appeal in itself — it survives even if the main appeal is withdrawn or dismissed as not maintainable, and may raise grounds the respondent did not separately appeal.
Limitation, condonation and fees
The appeal lies within 60 days of communication of the order; sub-section (5) empowers condonation of delay (in both appeals and cross-objections) on sufficient cause, applying the liberal approach of Mst. Katiji. Sub-section (6) prescribes the fee scale.
New questions of law before the Tribunal
Because the Tribunal is the final fact-finding authority, it may, per National Thermal Power, entertain a question of law arising from facts on record though not raised below — subject to the other side's opportunity to meet it.
B. STATUTORY TEXT (verbatim)
Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025). Inline numerals in square brackets are the bare Act's amendment-footnote markers.
Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal.
253. (1) Any assessee aggrieved by any of the following orders may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order—
(b) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under clause (c) of section 158BC, in respect of search initiated under section 132 or books of account, other documents or any assets requisitioned under section 132A, after the 30th day of June, 1995, but before the 1st day of January, 1997; or
(ba) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under sub-section (1) of section 115VZC; or 79[(c) an order passed by,—
(ii) a Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or a Principal Director General or Director General or a Principal Director or Director under section 263 or under section 272A or an order passed by him under section 154 amending any such order; or]
(d) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under sub-section (3), of section 143 or section 147 or section 153A or section 153C in pursuance of the directions of the Dispute Resolution Panel or an order passed under section 154 in respect of such order;
(e) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) of section 143 or section 147 or section 153A or section 153C with the approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner as referred to in sub-section (12) of section 144BA or an order passed under section 154 or section 155 in respect of such order;
(f) an order passed by the prescribed authority under sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v) or sub-clause
(vi) or sub-clause (via) of clause (23C) of section 10.
(2) The Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may, if he objects to any order passed by a Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) before the 1st day of October, 1998 or, as the case may be, a 80[the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or the] Commissioner (Appeals) under section 154 or section 250, direct the Assessing Officer to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against the order.
(2A) [***]
(3) Every appeal under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be filed within 80a[two months from the end of the month in] which the order sought to be appea-led against is communicated to the assessee or to the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, as the case may be :
Provided that in respect of any appeal under clause (b) of sub-section (1), this sub-section shall have effect as if for the words "sixty days", the words "thirty days" had been substituted.
(3A) [***]
(4) The Assessing Officer or the assessee, as the case may be, on receipt of notice that an appeal 81[against an order], has been preferred under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) by the other party, may, notwithstanding that he may not have appealed against such order or any part thereof, within thirty days of the receipt of the notice, file a memorandum of cross-objections, verified in the prescribed manner, against 82[any part of such order], 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 (3).
(5) The Appellate Tribunal may admit an appeal or permit the filing of a memorandum of cross-objections after the expiry of the relevant period referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4), if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period.
(6) An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal shall be in the prescribed form and shall be verified in the prescribed manner and shall, in the case of an appeal made, on or after the 1st day of October, 1998, irrespective of the date of initiation of the assessment proceedings relating thereto, be accompanied by a fee of,—
(a) where the total income of the assessee as computed by the Assessing Officer, in the case to which the appeal relates, is one hundred thousand rupees or less, five hundred rupees,
(b) where the total income of the assessee, computed as aforesaid, in the case to which the appeal relates is more than one hundred thousand rupees but not more than two hundred thousand rupees, one thousand five hundred rupees,
(c) where the total income of the assessee, computed as aforesaid, in the case to which the appeal relates is more than two hundred thousand rupees, one per cent of the assessed income, subject to a maximum of ten thousand rupees,
(d) where the subject matter of an appeal relates to any matter, other than those specified in clauses
(a), (b) and (c), five hundred rupees:
Provided that no fee shall be payable in the case of an appeal referred to in sub-section (2), or, sub-section
(2A) as it stood before its amendment by the Finance Act, 2016, or, a memorandum of cross objections referred to in sub-section (4).
(7) An application for stay of demand shall be accompanied by a fee of five hundred rupees.
(8) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2), so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by—
(a) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation;
(b) introducing a team-based mechanism for appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, with dynamic jurisdiction.
(9) The Central Government may, for the purpose of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (8), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the notification. 83[***]
(10) Every notification issued under sub-section (8) and sub-section (9) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament. 73.-77..Ins. by Act No. 15 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-10-2024. 80a. Sub. for "sixty days of the date on" by Act No. 15 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-10-2024. 1-4-2023. Act No. 6 of 2022, w.e.f. 1-4-2022 and Act No. 08 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-4-2024, read as under: "Provided that no direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2025."
C. AUTHORITIES
The authorities address the breadth of the Tribunal's appellate seisin, new questions of law, and the procedural rights of the parties.
Cluster 1 — Scope of the second appeal and new questions of law
National Thermal Power Co. Ltd. v. CIT, (1998) 229 ITR 383 (SC)
Holding Section 254 is in the widest terms; the Tribunal can entertain a question of law raised for the first time before it, provided the relevant facts are on record, to correctly determine the tax liability.
Relevance Defines the legal-question latitude available to an appellant or respondent under section 253.
Holding The Tribunal may allow a new aspect/contention on the subject-matter of the appeal to be raised, its jurisdiction extending to the whole subject-matter.
Relevance Supports raising new contentions within the subject-matter at the Tribunal stage.
Cluster 2 — Cross-objections and condonation
Principle — section 253(4) cross-objection is an independent appeal
Position A memorandum of cross-objections is in the nature of an independent appeal: it can be pressed even if the main appeal fails or is withdrawn, and the respondent may thereby assail parts of the order decided against him without having filed a separate appeal.
Caution Stated from the structure of section 253(4) and consistent Tribunal/High Court practice.
Collector, Land Acquisition v. Mst. Katiji, (1987) 167 ITR 471 (SC)
Holding Liberal, justice-oriented approach to condonation of delay.
Relevance Applied to condone delay in Tribunal appeals and cross-objections under section 253(5).
Cluster 3 — Maintainability against revision and DRP orders
Position (statutory) — appeals against 263 orders and DRP-direction assessments
Position An order of revision under section 263 is directly appealable to the Tribunal under section 253(1)(c); an assessment made in pursuance of DRP directions is appealable to the Tribunal under section 253(1)(d) (not to the CIT(A)). Selecting the wrong forum is a frequent ground of dismissal.
Caution Verify the precise clause; the DRP route is the eligible assessee's exclusive second-appeal channel.
CHAPTER XX — APPEALS AND REVISION | B.—Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
Section 253 — Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal
Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise
Status: Live. Confers the second appeal: by the assessee against specified orders (CIT(A)/JCIT(A), 263/264 revision, DRP-direction assessments, registration/approval orders, penalty orders) and by the Department; provides for cross-objections, limitation (60 days / 30 days for cross-objections) and condonation.
Finance Act, 2026: No amendment. The Finance Act, 2026 does not touch section 253.
Nature / mechanism: Gateway to the Tribunal: who may appeal and against what, the Department's appeal on the CIT's direction, the respondent's memorandum of cross-objections, limitation and condonation, and fees.
Litigation profile: Well litigated — maintainability against particular orders, independence of cross-objections, condonation of delay, and the right to raise new questions of law.
A. COMMENTARY
Who appeals, and against what
Sub-section (1) lists the orders an assessee may bring to the Tribunal: orders of the CIT(A)/JCIT(A) under sections 250/154/271/271A/272A; revision orders under section 263 and prejudicial orders under section 154; assessments made under section 143(3)/147 in pursuance of DRP directions (the direct-to-Tribunal route for eligible assessees); orders refusing or cancelling registration/approval (e.g., sections 12AA/12AB, 80G, 263). Sub-section (2) permits the Department to appeal where the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner so directs.
Cross-objections: an independent right
Sub-section (4) gives the respondent, on receipt of notice of the appeal, the right to file a memorandum of cross-objections within 30 days, which is treated as an appeal in itself — it survives even if the main appeal is withdrawn or dismissed as not maintainable, and may raise grounds the respondent did not separately appeal.
Limitation, condonation and fees
The appeal lies within 60 days of communication of the order; sub-section (5) empowers condonation of delay (in both appeals and cross-objections) on sufficient cause, applying the liberal approach of Mst. Katiji. Sub-section (6) prescribes the fee scale.
New questions of law before the Tribunal
Because the Tribunal is the final fact-finding authority, it may, per National Thermal Power, entertain a question of law arising from facts on record though not raised below — subject to the other side's opportunity to meet it.
B. STATUTORY TEXT (verbatim)
Reproduced verbatim from the Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended up to the Finance Act, 2025). Inline numerals in square brackets are the bare Act's amendment-footnote markers.
Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal.
253. (1) Any assessee aggrieved by any of the following orders may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order—
(a) an order passed by a Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) before the 1st day of October, 1998 or, as the case may be, a Commissioner (Appeals) under section 154, 73-77[section 158BFA,] section 250, section 270A, section 271, section 271A 78[, section 271AAB, section 271AAC, section 271AAD], section 271J or section 272A; or 78[(aa) an order passed by a Joint Commissioner (Appeals) under section 154, section 250, section 270A, section 271, section 271A, section 271AAC, section 271AAD or section 271J; or]
(b) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under clause (c) of section 158BC, in respect of search initiated under section 132 or books of account, other documents or any assets requisitioned under section 132A, after the 30th day of June, 1995, but before the 1st day of January, 1997; or
(ba) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under sub-section (1) of section 115VZC; or 79[(c) an order passed by,—
(i) a Principal Commissioner or Commissioner under section 12AA or section 12AB or under clause (vi) of sub-section (5) of section 80G or under section 263 or under section 270A or under section 271 or under section 272A or an order passed by him under section 154 amending any such order; or
(ii) a Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or a Principal Director General or Director General or a Principal Director or Director under section 263 or under section 272A or an order passed by him under section 154 amending any such order; or]
(d) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under sub-section (3), of section 143 or section 147 or section 153A or section 153C in pursuance of the directions of the Dispute Resolution Panel or an order passed under section 154 in respect of such order;
(e) an order passed by an Assessing Officer under sub-section (3) of section 143 or section 147 or section 153A or section 153C with the approval of the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner as referred to in sub-section (12) of section 144BA or an order passed under section 154 or section 155 in respect of such order;
(f) an order passed by the prescribed authority under sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v) or sub-clause
(vi) or sub-clause (via) of clause (23C) of section 10.
(2) The Principal Commissioner or Commissioner may, if he objects to any order passed by a Deputy Commissioner (Appeals) before the 1st day of October, 1998 or, as the case may be, a 80[the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or the] Commissioner (Appeals) under section 154 or section 250, direct the Assessing Officer to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against the order.
(2A) [***]
(3) Every appeal under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be filed within 80a[two months from the end of the month in] which the order sought to be appea-led against is communicated to the assessee or to the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner, as the case may be :
Provided that in respect of any appeal under clause (b) of sub-section (1), this sub-section shall have effect as if for the words "sixty days", the words "thirty days" had been substituted.
(3A) [***]
(4) The Assessing Officer or the assessee, as the case may be, on receipt of notice that an appeal 81[against an order], has been preferred under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) by the other party, may, notwithstanding that he may not have appealed against such order or any part thereof, within thirty days of the receipt of the notice, file a memorandum of cross-objections, verified in the prescribed manner, against 82[any part of such order], 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 (3).
(5) The Appellate Tribunal may admit an appeal or permit the filing of a memorandum of cross-objections after the expiry of the relevant period referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4), if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period.
(6) An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal shall be in the prescribed form and shall be verified in the prescribed manner and shall, in the case of an appeal made, on or after the 1st day of October, 1998, irrespective of the date of initiation of the assessment proceedings relating thereto, be accompanied by a fee of,—
(a) where the total income of the assessee as computed by the Assessing Officer, in the case to which the appeal relates, is one hundred thousand rupees or less, five hundred rupees,
(b) where the total income of the assessee, computed as aforesaid, in the case to which the appeal relates is more than one hundred thousand rupees but not more than two hundred thousand rupees, one thousand five hundred rupees,
(c) where the total income of the assessee, computed as aforesaid, in the case to which the appeal relates is more than two hundred thousand rupees, one per cent of the assessed income, subject to a maximum of ten thousand rupees,
(d) where the subject matter of an appeal relates to any matter, other than those specified in clauses
(a), (b) and (c), five hundred rupees:
Provided that no fee shall be payable in the case of an appeal referred to in sub-section (2), or, sub-section
(2A) as it stood before its amendment by the Finance Act, 2016, or, a memorandum of cross objections referred to in sub-section (4).
(7) An application for stay of demand shall be accompanied by a fee of five hundred rupees.
(8) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under sub-section (2), so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by—
(a) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation;
(b) introducing a team-based mechanism for appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, with dynamic jurisdiction.
(9) The Central Government may, for the purpose of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (8), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the notification. 83[***]
(10) Every notification issued under sub-section (8) and sub-section (9) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament. 73.-77..Ins. by Act No. 15 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-10-2024. 80a. Sub. for "sixty days of the date on" by Act No. 15 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-10-2024. 1-4-2023. Act No. 6 of 2022, w.e.f. 1-4-2022 and Act No. 08 of 2024, w.e.f. 1-4-2024, read as under: "Provided that no direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2025."
C. AUTHORITIES
The authorities address the breadth of the Tribunal's appellate seisin, new questions of law, and the procedural rights of the parties.
Cluster 1 — Scope of the second appeal and new questions of law
National Thermal Power Co. Ltd. v. CIT, (1998) 229 ITR 383 (SC)
Holding Section 254 is in the widest terms; the Tribunal can entertain a question of law raised for the first time before it, provided the relevant facts are on record, to correctly determine the tax liability.
Relevance Defines the legal-question latitude available to an appellant or respondent under section 253.
CIT v. Mahalakshmi Textile Mills Ltd., (1967) 66 ITR 710 (SC)
Holding The Tribunal may allow a new aspect/contention on the subject-matter of the appeal to be raised, its jurisdiction extending to the whole subject-matter.
Relevance Supports raising new contentions within the subject-matter at the Tribunal stage.
Cluster 2 — Cross-objections and condonation
Principle — section 253(4) cross-objection is an independent appeal
Position A memorandum of cross-objections is in the nature of an independent appeal: it can be pressed even if the main appeal fails or is withdrawn, and the respondent may thereby assail parts of the order decided against him without having filed a separate appeal.
Caution Stated from the structure of section 253(4) and consistent Tribunal/High Court practice.
Collector, Land Acquisition v. Mst. Katiji, (1987) 167 ITR 471 (SC)
Holding Liberal, justice-oriented approach to condonation of delay.
Relevance Applied to condone delay in Tribunal appeals and cross-objections under section 253(5).
Cluster 3 — Maintainability against revision and DRP orders
Position (statutory) — appeals against 263 orders and DRP-direction assessments
Position An order of revision under section 263 is directly appealable to the Tribunal under section 253(1)(c); an assessment made in pursuance of DRP directions is appealable to the Tribunal under section 253(1)(d) (not to the CIT(A)). Selecting the wrong forum is a frequent ground of dismissal.
Caution Verify the precise clause; the DRP route is the eligible assessee's exclusive second-appeal channel.