Tribunals are here to stay as they play an important role in sphere of adjudication of disputes - says Law Minister

By Vijay Kumar

IN his valedictory address at the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley emphasized the need to have simpler tax regime for the hassle free working. He said Laws must be simple to avoid the possibility of excessive litigation even if you have a large number of population and assessees. He said the tax tribunal is constituted by experts from two different branches - one having a judicially trained mind which is keen to interpret the law and the other having experience in taxation.

Yes Sir. Laws must be simple. But your officers make them complex. Can anyone understand this condition stipulated in an Exemption Notification?

"If the said excisable goods are manufactured from inputs or capital goods on which appropriate duty of excise leviable under the First Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act or additional duty of customs under section 3 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) has been paid and no credit of such excise duty or additional duty of customs on inputs or capital goods has been taken by the manufacturer of such goods (and not the buyer of such goods) under rule 3 or rule 13 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004" .

In his address Union Law & Justice Minister Shri D.V Sadananda Gowda said the concept of Tribunals has been borrowed from the French system of ‘The Droit Administratif, which referred to a system of administrative courts that ran parallel to the civil courts. The intention behind this system was to ease the civil courts from administrative matters while laying separate standards for administrative disputes.

He said the Tribunals are here to stay as they play an important role in the sphere of the adjudication of disputes. Tribunals function differently from courts, from the manner of appointment to the procedure followed. The Tribunals do not have to follow the uniform procedure as laid down under the Civil Procedure Code and under the Indian Evidence Act but they have to follow the principles of natural justice. Nevertheless, they seek to achieve the same objective as that of the courts i.e. - to impart and deliver Justice.