As part of adopting environmental friendly measures, Ahmedabad bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has ordered that copies of the judicial orders that are sent to department representatives (the legal team which appears on behalf of the tax authorities) and to the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) and members of the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) will only be in digital format.
An office order, dated October 17, has been issued in this regard by Pramod Kumar, a senior member of the ITAT (Ahmedabad bench).
In any case before the ITAT, there are two parties, the taxpayer and the Income-tax authorities. Now, the tax authorities will only receive the judicial order via secured emails, which according to sources is expected to save at least 6,000 white sheets a month. The ITAT’s order itself will adhere to a standard font, and will be typed on both sides of a page, saving considerable paper – the approximation figure is 1,000 white sheets a month.
Taxpayers have also been asked to use a standard font size of not more than 12.5 with a spacing of no more than 1.5 lines. Further, they too have to use paper on both sides. “Any documents or paper books in violation of these guidelines will not ordinarily be accepted by the Registry,” says the order.
However, to avoid any inconvenience, till December end, ITAT’s office will accept paper books and documents that do not adhere to the environmentally friendly guidelines.
In addition, ground work is on, towards moving towards a completely paperless court and this process is likely to be completed by December end.
Read the full text of the Office Order below.
