Commissioner for CESTAT; Additional Commissioner for ITAT - Why?
AS per the Customs, Excise and [Service Tax] Appellate Tribunal Members (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987, "A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a technical member unless he has been a member of the Indian Customs and Central Excise Service Group 'A' and has held the post of Commissioner of Customs or Central Excise or any equivalent or higher post for at least three years."
As per the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal Members (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1963, "A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an accountant member unless:-xxxx he has been a member of the Indian Income Tax Service Group ‘A' and has held the post of Additional Commissioner of Income Tax or any equivalent or higher post for at least three years."
So, to become a technical member of the CESTAT, one has to be a COMMISSIONER or above, while one can become an accountant Member in ITAT if he had been an Additional Commissioner or above.
Why this difference? (There are other differences too like for the ITAT Judicial Member, a Grade II officer of the Indian Legal Service is eligible while only Grade I officers are eligible for CESTAT; the minimum age for CESTAT is 45 years while it is 35 for ITAT
Normally, a Commissioner of Income Tax appears for the Department before the ITAT and he has to bow before an Additional Commissioner who must have worked under him! Is it because they don't find enough Income Tax Commissioners to join as Members of the Tribunal? The salary of a Tribunal Member is higher than that of a Chief Commissioner - maybe that is the incentive for Additional Commissioners.