In the Income-tax Act, after section 245L, the following section shall be inserted and shall be deemed to have been inserted with effect from the 1st day of February, 2021, namely:––Option to withdraw pending application.“245M.(1) With respect to a pending application, the assessee who had filed such application may, at his option, withdraw such application within a period of three months from the date of commencement of the Finance Act, 2021 and intimate the Assessing Officer, in the prescribed manner, about such withdrawal.(2)Where the option under sub-section (1) is not exercised by the assessee within the time allowed under that sub-section, the pending application shall be deemed to have been received by the Interim Board on the date on which such application is allotted or transferred to the Interim Board under sub-section (3).(3)The Board may, by an order, allot any pending application to any Interim Board and may also transfer, by an order, any pending application from one Interim Board to another Interim Board.(4)Where the pending application is allotted to an Interim Board under sub-section (3) or transferred to another Interim Board subsequently, all the records, documents or evidences, by whatever name called, with the Settlement Commission shall be transferred to such Interim Board and shall be deemed to be the records before it for all purposes.(5)Where the assessee exercises the option under subsection (1) to withdraw his application, the proceedings with respect to the application shall abate on the date on which such application is withdrawn and the Assessing Officer, or, as the case may be, any other income-tax authority before whom the proceeding at the time of making the application was pending, shall dispose of the case in accordance with the provisions of this Act as if no application under section
