Rule 250 — Definitions for the purposes of rules 251 to 268. Made under s.515 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 250 gives effect to Section 515 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
The rule defines five expressions for the purposes of rules 251 to 268 and does nothing else.
"Adjudicating authority" has the meaning assigned to it in clause (1) of section 5 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. "Authorised income-tax practitioner" means any authorised representative as defined in section 515(3)(a)(v) or (vi). "Prescribed authority" for the purpose of section 515(5)(b) is the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax or Chief Commissioner of Income-tax or Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or Commissioner of Income-tax having jurisdiction over the case in the proceedings connected with which the income-tax practitioner is alleged to be guilty of misconduct. "Register" means the register of income-tax practitioners referred to in rule 255. And "specified authority" is the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax or Chief Commissioner of Income-tax or Principal Commissioner of Income-tax or Commissioner of Income-tax, as the case may be.
Rules 251 to 268 run the register of income-tax practitioners and the disciplinary process that goes with it, and both need to know exactly who acts. The rule fixes that in advance, and makes one distinction that matters: the prescribed authority for misconduct under section 515(5)(b) is not any officer of the four named ranks, but the one having jurisdiction over the case in the proceedings connected with which the practitioner is alleged to be guilty, whereas the specified authority is defined by rank alone.
Two of the definitions look alike and are not. The specified authority is any of the four named officers as the case may be; the prescribed authority under section 515(5)(b) is tied to jurisdiction over the case in the proceedings connected with which the misconduct is alleged, so a complaint cannot be taken up by whichever of those officers is convenient. "Authorised income-tax practitioner" is narrower than "authorised representative" generally — only the representatives described in section 515(3)(a)(v) or (vi) fall inside it — so the register and the disciplinary rules that follow do not reach every person who may appear for an assessee. Being a definition rule, none of this travels beyond rules 251 to 268.
A practitioner meets these definitions indirectly, through the rules on registration, removal and misconduct in rules 251 to 268 that use them.
"authorised income-tax practitioner" means any authorised representative as defined in section 515(3)(a)(v) or (vi)
having jurisdiction over the case in the proceedings connected with which the income-tax practitioner is alleged to be guilty of misconduct
