Strengthen the CESTAT – give their Lordships some facilities
CESTAT is almost equal to the High Court. At least some of their orders are directly appealable to Supreme Court. They deal with cases involving hundreds of Crores. Recently the Madras High Court Chief Justice said that the High Court deals with petty cases while the CESTAT deals with cases of high importance involving huge revenue. The Tribunal is headed by a President who is a retired Chief Justice of a High Court. Each judge in the Tribunal hears at least 30 cases a day and pass orders – orders which have over the years attained an unparalleled status and passing the shrewd scrutiny of the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
But what are the facilities given to them?
They sit in rooms, which are smaller than the ones which Assistant Commissioners in the field have. Many of the rooms do not have attached toilets.
Many of the Members are not provided with cars – even the ones who have cars have Maruti Cars which are more than ten years old.
The Members are frequently asked to sit in Benches other than in their places of posting and when they go to the Capital or another city, there is nobody to receive them at the airports and they don't get a proper accommodation.
The clerical and secretarial support they have are pathetically poor.
The Technical Members of the CESTAT are either former Commissioners or Chief Commissioners of the Department and as Commissioner/ CC, they enjoy tremendous power and privileges. They have access to any number of vehicles and protocol officers and an army of subordinates to do all their work. When such an officer joins a higher post like Member of the CESTAT, he would expect to have the existing facilities if not more, but what he finds is that he does not have a car, nobody helps him in his travel, accommodation or any personal work he has to attend.
What would be the incentive for a CC to join as Member of the CESTAT, if he has to face such humiliating situations? Will anyone join CESTAT just because he gets two more years of sarkari status?
And why should a retired Chief Justice or judge of a High Court join the CESTAT, which is not able to provide minimum facilities for the Hon'ble judges?
And what will happen if their Lordships seek assistance from wily lawyers or their clients? A judge who does not have a vehicle to go home from the Tribunal can ask a lawyer for a lift and he would get the best car in the town, not only for getting dropped at home but to go shopping with his wife later. A judge struggling for accommodation in an alien city can get star accommodation – all that he has to do is to ask an advocate. Are you driving your judges to such pathetic situations? But judges are also human beings and they have human frailties, human temptations and human needs and when the system does not provide them the minimum needs of life – well what happens, is a tragedy.
The Revenue Department considers the CESTAT as a subordinate office and the highest officer in the Ministry who would decide on facilities to CESTAT would be an under-secretary!
Former President Justice Abichandani told me that he knew the FM and the Revenue Secretary, but obviously that did not help in the Government providing more facilities to the CESTAT!
The FM is a senior advocate of eminent stature and at least his wife had appeared before CESTAT several times and so he knows the importance of CESTAT. Mr. Chidambaram is the right person who can do something to sustain the status of the CESTAT. At least give the poor judges some good cars.
What prompted me to write this? A TIOL correspondent saw a CESTAT Member going home from the Tribunal in a shared auto rickshaw. He (our reporter) was too terrified to take a picture but I told him, “don't worry, you can get that snap any day”
Will the FM/RS/FS do something?