Page 53 - ELT_1st August 2020_Vol 373_Part 3

2020 ] APPELLATE MECHANISM UNDER CUSTOMS ACT, 1962 A91

The Calcutta High Court in CIT v. Agarwal Hardware [248 ITR 155] held
that “a substantial question of law means a question of law which affects the
substance of the case, and further held that the order of the Tribunal which is not
supported by facts is perverse, and the point of perversity can be taken up in an
appeal under this section.” [Supra note 2, page 2766].
In Kejriwal Enterprises v. CIT [260 ITR 341] it was held that
“When an authority draws a conclusion which cannot be drawn by
any reasonable person or authority on the disclosed state of facts,
then a perverse decision is entered and a perverse decision is wrong
in law. Therefore, the Court has power under this section to set
aside the finding of the tribunal which is perverse.”
It was held in CIT v. Nova Promoters [342 ITR 169] that the High Court
can also set aside the finding of fact by the Tribunal if they are based on irrele-
vant material or have been entered by ignoring the relevant material [Arvind P.
Datar, Kanga & Palkivala - The Law & Practice of Income Tax - Vol-II, 2766, (Tenth
edition, Lexis Nexis 2014)].
In CIT v. B.L. Passi [254 ITR 225], the Delhi High Court has summed up
the legal position by observing :
“a finding on a question of fact can be challenged as erroneous in law where
there is no evidence to support it or it is based on material which is irrelevant
or partly relevant and partly irrelevant or it is based on conjectures or sur-
mises or partly on these and partly on evidence or the finding is so perverse
or unreasonable that no person acting judicially and properly instructed on
law could have arrived at it.”
However, the Court generally would not interfere with the Tribunal’s
finding of fact. Similarly, sufficiency or adequacy of evidence necessary for
reaching the conclusion of fact by the Tribunal does not give rise to a question of
law [Arvind P. Datar, Kanga & Palkivala - The Law & Practice of Income Tax - Vol-II,
2766, (Tenth edition, Lexis Nexis 2014)].
Appeal to the Supreme Court - Sections 130E and 130F
1. An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court from -
(a) any judgment of the High Court delivered -
(i) in an appeal made under Section 130; or
(iii) on a reference made under Section 130A, in any case which,
on its own motion or on an oral application made by or on
behalf of the party aggrieved, immediately after passing of
the judgment, the High Court certifies to be a fit one for ap-
peal to the Supreme Court; or
(b) any order passed by the Appellate Tribunal relating, among other
things, to the determination of any question having a relation to the
rate of duty of Customs or to the value of goods for purposes of as-
sessment.
2. The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, relating to ap-
peals to the Supreme Court shall, so far as may be, apply in the case of appeals
under Section 130E as they apply in the case of appeals from decrees of a High
Court.
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