Post Technical Member in Bangalore CESTAT - Tax Bar Urges President
IN a letter addressed to the President of CESTAT, the Indirect Tax Practitioners' Association of Bangalore CESTAT urged the President to post a permanent Technical Member at Bangalore Bench of the CESTAT.
The President of the Association BN Gururaj submits,
The pendency of appeals and interim applications at CESTAT, Bangalore may not be the highest in the country, but it is not negligible either. Since the filings of appeals and applications by the litigants continue on day-to-day basis, the pendency is growing steadily, with no sight of disposal in near future. This has already resulted in hardship to litigant public, on account of adjournments sine die.
It is the experience of the litigants and the constituents of the Association that as soon as the months of November and December approach, every year, the Revenue takes coercive steps for recovery of adjudication dues. Hitherto, the practice was to mention such urgent matters before the Division Bench, so that such stay applications would be heard out of turn, after due notice to the Revenue. But, at present, in the absence of a Division Bench, and with no certainty as to when the Division Bench sitting will be resumed, the litigant public would be put to grave financial and other hardship. Even approaching the High Court for speedy hearing would be of no avail, when there is no competent Division Bench at all at Bangalore. In such situation, appellant-assessees would be left to the tender mercies of the Revenue Officers, resulting in injustice to them.
It is under this circumstance that the Association sincerely requests the Hon'ble President to urgently look into this matter and transfer a Member (Technical) permanently, so that the hearings and disposals continue as usual.
It is not Bangalore alone that faces this problem; actually, Chennai is senior. There is no Bench at all in Chennai for the last few months. This means there is no working CESTAT Bench for the entire South India consisting of large States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and Kerala. There are 36 Commissionerates in these States and there are quite a few Commissioners (Appeals) and Commissioners (Adjudication) - all busy passing orders demanding tons of money. AND THERE IS NO FUNCTIONING APPELLATE FORUM.
What is the problem? In this country, are we not able to get half a dozen lawyers and Commissioners who can be appointed as Members of the Tribunal?