Amendments to Income Tax Act, 1961 by the Finance Act, 2012 : Death Knell for Dispute Resolutions Panels?

This author in the article titled as ‘Dispute Resolution Panels: Failed Solution Already' (2012) 341 ITR (Journal) 52 had examined the manner in which the Dispute Resolutions Panels (DPRs) had been functioning and the effectiveness with which they had worked towards the attainment of their stated objectives. The Finance Act, 2012 makes amend and seeks to vary the existing legal set-up governing the DRPs. In this article the author discusses the amendments which relate to DRPs as enacted by the Finance Act, 2012 and their implications on the practical working of these panels. In the view of the author and appraisal of the amendments to the Income Tax Act carried by the Finance Act, 2012 relating to the powers and functioning of the Dispute Resolution Panels in the backdrop of the factual position relating to the disposal of objections by the DRPs in the existing set-up reveals that the twin-objections of expeditious and binding settlement of dispute by the DRP will be lost in the oblivion. Given the infrastructure and work-load in which the DRPs operate, the expansion of their jurisdiction while simultaneously requiring the persons manning these panels to exercise the existing administrative obligations perforce impinge upon the circumstances necessary for judicious adjudication. It is thus is imperative for the Government to examine afresh the institutional positioning and functions of DRP if it is to be saved from turning obsolete. The earlier part of this paper can be accessed at [Dispute Resolution Panels: A Failed Solution Already? http://ssrn.com/abstract=2016864]