Benches under Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal [Sections 252 to 255] :

(i) Section 255(1) provides that the powers and functions of the Appellate Tribunal may be exercised and discharged by Benches constituted by the President of the Appellate Tribunal among the members thereof.

(ii) As per section 255(2), a Bench should normally consist of one judicial member and one accountant member.

(iii) However, section 255(3) provides for constitution of a single member bench and a Special Bench.

(iv) Section 255(3) provides that a single member bench may dispose of any case which pertains to an assessee whose total income as computed by the Assessing Officer in the said case does not exceed Rs 15 lakh.

(v) The President may, for the disposal of any particular case constitute a special Bench consisting of three or more members, one of whom must necessarily be a judicial member and one an accountant member.

Where members differ – If the member of a Bench differ in opinion on any point the point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority, if there is a majority. But if the members are equally divided they should state the points on which they differ and the case shall be referred by the President of the Tribunal for hearing on such point by one or more of the other members of the Tribunal: then, such points shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members of the Tribunal who have heard the case, including those who first heard it.

Regulating power – The Appellate Tribunal is empowered to regulate its own procedure and the procedure of its Benches in all matters arising out of the exercise of its power of the discharge of its functions, including the places at which the Benches shall hold their sittings. The Tribunal is vested with all the powers which are exercisable by Income-tax authorities under section 131 for the purpose of discharging its functions. Any proceeding before the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding for the purpose of the Income-tax Act and the Indian Penal Code and that Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be a Civil Court for all the purposes of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.