CESTAT without a President – Waiting for a Justice
The CESTAT is again without a President as it happens with routine regularity every couple of years. Normally a retired High Court Chief Justice is appointed as President of CESTAT. He/she hardly has two and a half years of service left. It takes about six months to get to know the organisation and by the time he is able to take full control and start making those footprints in the legal sands of time, it's time for him to go.
In the present situation, the President left even before his tenure was complete.
CESTAT is a very small organisation with hardly twenty Members, but it is an enormously powerful organisation, the last fact finding Authority in Indirect Tax litigation. Lakhs of Crores of rupees are at stake in the hallowed under-furnished precincts of the Tribunal, but somehow it is not given a fraction of the importance it deserves. It is really sad that such a Judicial body is headless quite often.
The present practice of appointing retired Chief Justices should be reconsidered. Maybe a sitting judge aged less than 60 years old should be appointed so that he can have at least five years of service in the Tribunal.
But why should a sitting High Court Judge leave his status and perks to join the CESTAT? There should be enough incentives to attract sitting judges – better bungalows, better cars, more perks and maybe a huge salary. But the Rules may not allow any of these.
Another option that could be tried is to appoint young judges of the High Courts with more than ten years of service left. Once they join the Tribunal, they should be treated on par with Chief Justices of the High Courts and should be eligible to be appointed as Judges of the Supreme Court.
Judicial Members of the Tribunal on completing five years, should be appointed as High Court Judges and may be after a few years in the High Court, some of them can be brought back to the Tribunal as Vice Presidents to be ultimately promoted as President.
The civil litigation in the Tribunal is very crucial for the Government as it is all about MONEY. And the government should be serious about an organisation where its money is held up.
Compare the Settlement Commission with the CESTAT. The Settlement Commission, which decides about one hundredth of the number of cases decided by CESTAT, has ten times the staff and facilities!
Dear FM, please urgently give the CESTAT more space, more cars, more libraries, more staff, more typists and a PRESIDENT.