No pension, PF for I-T, GST tribunal members under amended tribunal rule

Earlier, serving judges of the High Court or the Supreme Court were appointed as chairperson or a member while staying in their existing service, and were entitled to pension and other benefits

Following changes in rules made by the Centre, the members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) and goods and services tax (GST) tribunal will not be eligible for gratuity, pension, and provident fund benefits.

The amended rule 13 states: “Pension, provident fund, and gratuity shall not be admissible for the service rendered in the Tribunal.”

It has made tribunal membership a full-time job. Earlier, serving judges of the High Court or the Supreme Court were appointed as chairpersons or a member while staying in their existing service. Thus, they were entitled to pension and other benefits, according to a report in The Economic Times (ET).

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After the changes, if a serving judge of any court is appointed as chairperson or a member of the tribunal, he/she will have to either resign or obtain voluntary retirement from their parent service before joining the tribunal, as they serve both simultaneously.

The amended tribunal rule states: “Where the person appointed as a chairperson or a member is a serving judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court or a serving member of an organised service, he shall either resign or obtain voluntary retirement from his parent service before joining the tribunal.”

According to the ET report, the changes come when the Centre is setting up GST appellate tribunals for speedy disposal of pending tax cases and litigation. Earlier, the government excluded lawyers from being judicial members.

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