Six New Technical Members for CESTAT
IT is finally out and official - the order appointing six technical members to the CESTAT has been released by the Ministry. There was a small error in the flash carried by us on Friday. We carried the name of Mr. KM Ravichandran instead of Mr. B. Ravichandran. But as mentioned in the flash, it was a likely news. We carried it on the basis of information received from reliable sources. Any way we regret the lapse.
The following are the new Members appointed with their places of posting.
Sl. No. | Name of the Officer and Batch | Place of Posting |
|---|---|---|
1. | Mr. Ashok Kumar Arya, 1984 | Bengaluru |
2. | Mr. B Ravichandran, 1984 | New Delhi |
3. | Mr.Raju, 1986 | Mumbai |
4. | Mr. C J Mathew, 1989 | Mumbai |
5. | Mr. P M Saleem, 1983 | Ahmedabad |
6. | Mr.Ramesh Kumar Singla, 1981 | Chennai |
1. Mr. Ashok Kumar Arya holds LL.M and MBA degrees and has vast experience in the Department in Mumbai Customs, Ahmedabad Central Excise, DRI, Directorate of Enforcement, DG, Audit, NACEN and RajyaSabha Secretariat. He would have retired from the Department in September 2015. Now, he will be in CESTAT till September 2017.
2. Mr.B.Ravichandran has varied experience in Central Excise, Service Tax, Customs and Vigilance. He has headed important offices like Mumbai Service Tax and NahvaSheva Customs. He also has experience as a Commissioner (Appeals). He is now a Principal Commissioner in Hyderabad. He is a post graduate in Science and a graduate in Law.
3. Mr.Raju holds AMIE, CFA, PGDM and LLB as his educational qualifications. He has rich experience as DR in the CESTAT. Now he is elevated from the Bar to the Bench. Recently he was promoted as Principal Commissioner. He will have a long service of 9 years in CESTAT.
4. Mr. Mathew will perhaps be the youngest Technical Member ever to join CESTAT. He is just 51 which means he can be in CESTAT for 11 years. Mr. Mathew is an MBA and a sought after speaker in many training and development programmes in nationally reputed institutions. He also has experience in Customs, DRI, CVC and was the Development Commissioner of Cochin SEZ for nearly five years. He is at present ADG, Audit at Hyderabad.
5. Mr. PM Saleem retired from the Department six months ago. He will have a short duration of one and half year in the Tribunal. Mr.Saleem is a Law Graduate with an MBA. He also had experience as a Departmental Representative in the CESTAT apart from various field posts in Customs, Central Excise. He also worked in the Board and in Vigilance. Mr.Saleem would be perhaps the first among the newly appointed Members to join. He is to preside over a Single Member Bench in Ahmedabad on 05.06.2015.
6. Mr. Ramesh Kumar Singla, is the senior-most IRS officer among the newly appointed members. He retired two months ago as Chief Commissioner and DG, Safeguards. Mr.Singla is a law graduate and had a long stint as Joint CDR in the CESTAT. He will have slightly less than two years in the Bench.
Working in CESTAT as DR seems to have heavily impressed the selection committee.
We congratulate the new Members and wish them all the best in the Bench.
Now that all the vacancies in the CESTAT seem to have been filled, the Revenue Department should ensure that adequate funds are provided to the CESTAT for starting new Benches and for better facilities in the existing benches.