NTT grounded – stayed by several High Courts
The National Tax Tribunal which was notified in the first week of the year by the Government has again run into troubled waters. At least three High Courts – Punjab and Haryana, Orissa and Madras have stayed the implementation of the Act – at least partially. But this partial stay is paralytic. The P&H High Court has stayed Section 23 of the Act which requires the High Courts to transfer their cases to the NTT, while the Madras High Court has stayed the constitution of the Tribunal.
The Madras High Court has granted the interim stay on a PIL by the Madras Bar Association. The petitioners stated that the Tribunal would take away the jurisdiction of High Courts to hear appeals on questions of law from the decision of the tribunals – ITAT and CESTAT. They argued that it was another attempt at tribunalisation of justice and sought to decimate the jurisdiction of courts and enlarge executive influence through quasi-judicial tribunals and they were being created not to improve administration of justice but to create post-retirement opportunities for civil servants. The petitioners seriously challenged the government figures of pendency in High Courts and also sought to declare Article 323 B of the Constitution ultra vires to the extent it permitted taking away judicial functions from High Courts and vested them in Tribunals not under judicial control.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the operation of Section 23 of the Act. As per this Section all the cases pending before any High Court are to be transferred to the National Tax Tribunal. The petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of the NTT as it does not maintain the independence of the judiciary from the executive. The Finance and Law secretaries who are themselves the litigants are members of the selection committee to appoint members of the Tribunal. This is not conducive to impartial functioning of the NTT according to the petitioners. They have also pointed out that the High Courts will continue to have Wirt Jurisdiction even after the National Tax Tribunal is established.
So those who are eager to join the NTT and those who are eager to appear before the NTT will have to wait for some more time.