I-T Tribunal Gets Free Hand On Postings

The Supreme Court has said that the president of the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal need not seek prior permission of the Union law ministry or inform it about transfers and postings made to the various benches of the tribunal. An interim order to this effect was passed by the apex court yesterday.

The order was passed by Chief Justice J S Verma and Justice K S Paripoornan on an application filed by the Union government alleging that the tribunal president, T V Rajagopala Rao, had violated the Supreme Court order of March 6 by not giving prior information to the ministry regarding the transfer of S Anand Reddy from Madras to Hyderabad.

 

Additional Solicitor General Altaf Ahmad submitted that the court had stipulated a 15-day period for intimation to the government, which was not complied with by the president.

Krishan Mahajan, counsel for the tribunals president, submitted that the order of transfer, dated March 25, was to take effect from April 14 and that it was intimated to the ministry. What the ministry was insisting on was prior information, which was not what the apex court had ordered, he said. Mahajan told the court that this measure was part of the ministrys continuous effort to harass an independent tribunal.

To substantiate this point, the counsel said that in the last three years, the ministry had failed to appoint a registrar of the tribunal and even stenographers were not available.

The posts of vice-president and deputy registrars are lying vacant, Mahajan said.

In this case, there were two benches in Hyderabad, one of which had ceased to function long ago.

The judicial member of the second was about to retire, threatening to paralyse its functioning. Therefore, Anand Reddy was transferred.

The judges expressed surprise over theministrys attitude. Paripoornan said that all this was happening because the government was unable to tolerate the independent functioning of the tribunal.