Govt merges 8 tribunals

Mumbai: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved the merger of eight

tribunals

with other tribunals. These amendments were introduced as part of the

Finance Bill

, 2017.

The bill also empowers the Central government to lay down the rules for appointment of tribunal members across a cross section of tribunal. Some of the prominent tribunals include the

Income tax Appellate Tribunal

(

ITAT

),

Central Excise and Service Tax Tribunal

(

CESTAT

),

Securities Appellate Tribunal

(

SAT

),

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal

(

NCLAT

),

and Authorities for Advance Rulings

(

AAR

). In addition, the Centre has also obtained the authority to determine the qualifications, term of office, salaries and allowances, resignation, removal and other terms of service of such quasi-judicial officials. The new rules will not apply to those currently serving on these tribunals. The term of office of tribunal members will be five years with eligibility for reappointment. Age limits have been increased, for instance, chairpersons of tribunals will now retire at age 70.

“Allowing the executive to determine appointment, reappointment and removal of members could affect the independent functioning of Tribunal. There would be conflict of interest if the government were to be a litigant before a tribunal, as well as determine appointment of its members,” points out

PRS Legislative Research

in its analysis.

At present, these administrative rules, such as appointment eligibility, remuneration etc were governed by the respective acts and rolled out by the concerned ministry. For instance, the Authority for Advance Rulings which gave rulings on tax implications — came under the ministry of finance, whereas the ITAT, which also adjudicated tax disputes, under the ministry of law. “The flip side is that uniformity in administrative rules will help in streamlining the functioning of these quasi-judicial bodies and ensure that vacancies aren’t kept pending for long,” said a tax attorney.

The Authority for Advance Ruling, for instance, had been functioning without full strength for the past few years, resulting in a huge backlog, even as the I-T Act mandates that a ruling will be given within six months of the application being filed, he illustrated.

Merger of some of the tribunals is causing anxiety among sections of experts. For example, cases heard by the Competition Appellate Tribunal, under the Competition Act, will now be heard by NCLAT, which is specialised to deal with the Companies Act. “Mergers will result in tribunal bodies losing their specialisation,” claims an advocate.


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