CBEC Presidential Awards - CESTAT ARs again Ignored!
CBEC has announced its Presidential Appreciation Certificate Awards for 2012 for a record number of 35 officers for outstanding record of service. It is surprising that not even a single Authorised Representative in the CESTAT figures in the list of 35 awardees. The ARs in the CESTAT do so much of thankless work for the Department – always unheard and unsung. It is unfortunate that their work goes unrecognized. While officers routinely posted to NACEN get a 30 percent allowance, even if they cannot take a single class, the ARs in CESTAT who have to face brilliant lawyers and more brilliant judges with the badly drafted notices and pathetically written orders, are not given any incentive. Hard work, sincerity, passion, loyalty and erudition – all are discerningly visible when you see an AR arguing a case – often a bad one. Officers from the investigating agencies like DRI and CEI often corner many of the awards – but their cases are cases only when effectively defended by the DRs in the Tribunal Benches. Almost all the ARs richly deserve the Presidential award, but hardly anyone ever gets it. An AR once told me that she prays before appearing for a major case and one day she asked her daughter also to pray for her. “Mummy, what will you get if you win the case?”, asked the daughter. “Nothing, but satisfaction”, was the answer.
The Chief Commissioner (AR) should prevail upon the Board to grant a few awards to the ARs every year. Even the DRI and CEI chiefs should recommend some ARs for the award. This is the least you can do to your most dedicated officers slogging it out in the Tribunal.
In this year's awards to 35 officers, more than 22 are from the Investigating Agencies and many more might be former officers of DRI, DGCEI and the like. A Private Secretary to a Commissioner is a proud awardee – I have no doubts that she might be the BEST Private Secretary in the world, but certainly the Department's representatives arguing tough cases in the Tribunal Benches richly deserve a major share of the awards.