Decide Stay Applications within 60 Days - CESTAT Bar President RK Jain
WELCOMING the new President of CESTAT, Justice Goda Raghuram on 6th April, the President of the CESTAT Bar Association said,
As an institution which has served its purpose of justice to revenue litigants for past more than 30 years, it is now on threshold of imminent expansion as ever increasing pendency has left available, no other choice. The ever-mounting pendency figure now stands at more than 75,000 Appeals and 11,000 Stay Orders and the same is having a crippling effect on the administration of justice at the level of CESTAT. Solutions therefore have to be implemented on a war footing. While the need for more benches has even come to be emphasized even by the higher Judicial forums with the Karnataka High Court giving a time bound direction to implement expansion by the mid of this year, equally there is need to have greater efficiency with in CESTAT, which can be achieved by time tested procedures of orderly and age wise listing of cases and bunching of cases involving similar issues. Again, with the changes that have been brought in recently in the budget and in various Board`s circulars, there is a need to prioritise disposal of Stay Applications and the same must be decided within 60 days, so that litigants are not subjected to unwarranted recovery actions for no fault of theirs.
Adhering to precedents is not only desirable from the point of view of judicial discipline but also enables quick decision-making and creates a certainty of law in the minds of everyone concerned. Once Justice Krishna Iyer said “Certainty of law is the safety of citizen”. In a democratic society governed by rule of laws, Tax Laws should not be interpreted differently in different cities, by different persons at different times, as it results in discrimination, which is prohibited by Article 14 of our Constitution. If all benches of a tribunal do not speak in one voice, the impression created is that it is a house divided and it further complicates matters and increases litigation, as the justice is perceived more as an individualised justice rather than an institutionalised one. Decisions rendered by Courts at one floor are not respected by the Courts on the other Floors. This floor-wise justice system needs to be taken care of, as it is immensely affecting the image of our august institution. The doctrine of precedent needs to be respected and implemented, particularly with reference to Tribunal's own decisions.
An efficient Registry is the mainstay of functioning of any judicial or quasi-judicial institution. The toil and sweat of Hon`ble members can be brought to naught if the same is not coupled with the efficiently functioning Registry. If the delay in passing and issuing of orders is to be minimised, which has also been emphasised by the apex court also, then the Registry of the CESTAT is required to be toned-up.
The wheel of justice starts moving with the listing of cases for hearing and if cases are not listed chronologically according to their age, it is bound to pollute the whole justice delivery system and adversely affect public confidence without which no institution can survive. Your Lordship can diagnose the problem by perusing cause lists of few weeks. The young and Junior Members of the Bar are mostly the sufferers. The problem of large pendencies at the CESTAT is also attributed due to non-listing of cases in a fair and orderly manner. Even in a Ration Shop, if there is a proper queue, there is a faster and satisfactory distribution otherwise in a queue jumping, there is a mess and even half of the people may not get ration. Technology coupled with strong resolve of implementation can easily provide a solution to this problem.