Departmental Adjudication and Appellate Mechanism – Needs a total re-haul.
The Adjudication in the Revenue Department has become a total farce. The honest officers are afraid of giving any order in favour of the assessee, for fear of being accused of dishonesty. The corrupt are selective, depending on the grease. The norm at the first stage of adjudication is to confirm the demand however ridiculous it is. Many adjudicators would openly agree that the assessee has a strong case, but would advise them to win the case in appeal. In fact some officers demand money for writing their orders in such a way that they will not stand scrutiny at a higher judicial appellate forum.
Not that the higher appellate forums are all honest, but the fact is that there is some hope of justice. Do we need all this farce? Can't we separate Administration from Adjudication? Let the first stage of adjudication be by a Court of two Additional Commissioners and the appellate stage by a Court of two Commissioners (Appeals). And these adjudicators and Appellate Authorities should be independent and free from Departmental constraints.
The present practice of the policeman being also the judge should be discontinued.