In Brief
The Supreme Court addressed whether circulars issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) can have retrospective effect. The Court held that the CBDT cannot issue circulars with retrospective operation. Specifically, a CBDT circular dated 9.2.2011 applies only to cases filed after its issuance and cannot govern proceedings filed before 2011. Following its prior decision in Suman Dhamija, the Court allowed the appeals, set aside the High Court's impugned order, and remitted the matters for fresh adjudication on merits.
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