Appearance by authorised representative
270. (1) Any assessee who is entitled, or required, to attend before any income-tax authority, or the Appellate Tribunal, in connection with any proceeding under this Code, may attend through an authorised representative.
(2) However, the provisions of sub-section (1) shall not apply in a case where the assessee is required to attend personally for examination on oath, or affirmation, under section 138.
(3) For the purposes of this section, "authorised representative" means a person authorised by the assessee in writing to appear on his behalf, being
(a) a person related to the assessee in any manner, or a person regularly employed by the assessee;
(b) any officer of a Scheduled Bank with which the assessee maintains a current account or has other regular dealings;
(c) any legal practitioner who is entitled to practice in any civil court in India; or
(d) an accountant;
(e) any person who has passed any accountancy examination recognised in this behalf by the Board;or
(f) any person who has acquired such educational qualifications as the Board may prescribe for this purpose.
(4) The following persons shall not be qualified to represent an assessee under subsection (1):-
(a) a person who has been dismissed or removed from Government service;
(b) a legal practitioner, or an accountant, who is found guilty of misconduct in his professional capacity by any authority entitled to institute disciplinary proceedings against him;
(c) a person, not being a legal practitioner or an accountant, who is found guilty of misconduct in connection with any income-tax proceedings by the prescribed authority.
(5) The Chief Commissioner may, by an order in writing, specify the period of disqualification under sub-section (4), having regard to the nature of misconduct.
