Cost of new CESTAT Benches
THE expenditure on establishing the Chandigarh Bench of the CESTAT is Rs. 1,01,36,884 till November 2015.
The Hyderabad Bench cost Rs. 2.12 crore. This includes 1.17 crore paid to CPWD and 70.5 lakh paid as rent for the period November 2014 to October 2015. Compared to these, the expenditure for setting up the Allahabad Bench was only Rs. 23.82 lakh.
The CESTAT gave this information in an RTI query.
This is certainly not big money, taking into consideration the huge amounts involved in litigation before the Tribunal.
This is not enough. We need more Benches, more Members, more infrastructure. The Registrar informs the High Court that he needs 12,000 sq.ft of space for the Allahabad Bench. Keeping the future in mind, we should have double that space, because once you establish, it is very difficult to acquire additional space and facilities. The Principal Bench of CESTAT in New Delhi is a classic example. In Bangalore, the Members do not have attached toilets to their chambers and there are no proper toilet facilities for the lawyers and litigants. Once a lawyer was frantically searching to find the toilet in the CESTAT building and the only toilet he discovered was locked. He sought my help in finding the toilet. I took him to the Proper Officer who had the key to the toilet and helped him in locating it. I was able to make a great impression about myself on this lawyer (who is now a sitting judge of a High Court), all because of my immense knowledge on how to get to the only toilet and then get it opened.