Why do we need a Revision Authority?

By Vijay Kumar

THIS revision authority is a relic of the past when we did not have the Tribunal. Now that we have a well functioning Tribunal, why do we need this parallel Revision Authority who is a Commissioner sitting in appeal over orders passed by another Commissioner, sometimes even senior to him? Can't we simply abolish this post and make all orders of the Commissioner(A) appealable to the Tribunal?

And this Revision Authority has only one office in Delhi - it will be difficult for small assessees to go to Delhi for the cases before the Authority.

This Revision Authority is like the Supreme Court; there is no appeal against its orders!

And strangely, the Department has no time limit to file an application before the Revision Authority!

If the Government is really interested in ‘ease of doing business' and less government, this institution should be abolished at the earliest.