Appellate Tribunals

SC strikes Tribunals Act provisions, says govt reintroduced quashed clauses

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down several provisions of the 2021 Tribunals Reforms law related to the appointment, tenure, and service conditions of members of various tribunals, saying they had been re-enacted by the Centre with minor tweaks. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran said the impugned provisions violated the principles of separation of powers and judicial independence, and they should not have been brought back. The bench said that dealing with the backlog of cases was not the sole responsibility of the judiciary, and the onus must be shared by the other arms of the government. The bench held that Parliament had sought to "legislatively override" binding judicial precedents by re-enacting clauses previously quashed by the court. "We have compared the provisions of the Ordinance and the 2021 Act, and it shows that all provisions struck down, with minor tweaking, have been re-enacted again," the CJI said while reading the judgment. "T

Best of BS Opinion: GST 2.0 reforms miss underlying core principles

Today's pieces look at the available space for more rate cuts, the sorry state of tribunals, why GST reforms are not really that, and how India can harness its vast non-export MSME sector

Centre notifies rules for GST Appellate Tribunal to make it operational

Authorised representatives, including lawyers and tax professionals, must submit a power of attorney before representing clients

NCLAT junks plea of Liberty Shoes' former CEO seeking ease of norms

Appellate tribunal NCLAT has dismissed the petition of Adesh Kumar Gupta, former CEO and Executive Director of Liberty Shoes, seeking an exemption from minimum shareholding norm to file a case of oppression and mismanagement against the company. Gupta has 5.83 per cent shareholding in Liberty Shoes. He was removed as an executive director of Liberty Shoes on September 30, 2023 and ceased to be the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. However, the company informed the stock exchange about his removal from the board on November 21, a day after the Chandigarh bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), on November 20 last year, dismissed his earlier plea. Gupta then moved NCLAT and sought a waiver under section 244 of the Companies Act in order to file a petition under Section 241, alleging oppression and mismanagement against him by the majority promoter block on the board. As per norms, a plea alleging oppression and mismanagement under Section 241 should be backed

Rlys not a deemed distribution licensee, liable to pay surcharges: APTEL

National Transporter May Appeal Decision After Legal Consultation, Say Sources

Ex-promoters, can submit bids if eligible under Section 29A of IBC: NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday said former promoters and directors of a company going through insolvency process are not barred from submitting bids until they are ineligible under clauses of Section 29A of the insolvency law. The mere fact that someone was a promoter and director of a company going through the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), does not make that person ineligible to submit a resolution plan, said the appellate tribunal while setting aside an order of Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The NCLT said Section 29A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) restricts such persons from submitting a resolution plan as it could have an adverse effect on the entire CIRP. The tribunal made the observations while denying the resolution plan of Mahesh Mathai for Blue Frog Media, in which he was a director. Mathai's proposal was approved by the Committee of Creditors (CoC) with a 91.86 per cent vote share a

FM introduces GST bill to raise age limit of president appellate tribunals

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to raise the age limit for president and members of GST appellate tribunals. The Central Goods and Services Tax (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to cap the age for president and members of the GST appellate tribunals (GSTAT) at 70 years and 67 years, respectively, higher than 67 years and 65 years specified earlier. An advocate with 10 years of 'substantial experience' in litigation in matters relating to indirect taxes in the Appellate Tribunal, would be eligible to be appointed as a judicial member of the GSTAT. As per the amendment, president and the judicial and technical members of the GSTAT shall hold office for four years, or until he attains the age of 70 years and 67 years, respectively, whichever is earlier. The rules notified by the government earlier had fixed the age limit for the president and members of GSTAT at 67 years and 65 years, respectively. The GST Council chaired by ...

I-T moves HC against tribunal for favouring LIC in Rs 5K cr tax cases

The litigation has been filed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Mumbai, for two claims: Rs 1,838.87 crore and Rs 3,153.97 crore from AY 2014

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

A 4-member GST appellate tribunal likely in each state, says official

A 4-member appellate tribunal is proposed to be set up in each state to streamline and expedite the dispute resolution process with regard to Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to an official. Each state appellate tribunal would have two technical members (one officer each from the centre and states) and two judicial members, the official told PTI. A division bench comprising two members -- one technical and one judicial -- will decide the appeals brought before it. As per the proposal, each state appellate tribunal will have two division benches and thus will be able to deal with more appeals, the official noted. There will also be a national appellate tribunal, which would be set up in Delhi, and comprise one judicial member and one technical member. The national appellate bench will mainly look into appeal cases on disputes between the department and assessee over the 'place of supply' under the GST regime. It, however, will not take up any appeal with regard to divergent

SC dismisses Tata Power's appeal against MERC awarding project to Adani

After several power outages in Mumbai, the MERC in 2013 gave its approval to the detailed project report of the Aarey-Kudus electricity transmission project of Reliance Energy

Abolish consumer fora if you don't want to fill vacancies: SC to govt

The Supreme Court on Friday slammed the government over the delay in appointment of presidents and members in consumer fora

Supreme court criticises Centre for 'cherry picking' names for Tribunals

The Supreme court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre over the recent appointments in some tribunals, saying it was "cherry-picking" candidates from the recommended list and that there was "no consistency" in the selection process. "We are very much unhappy with the way the issues are going on and how the decisions are taken, the court observed, calling the situation "unfortunate". Observing that making appointments in tribunals is the only solution, the top court asked the Centre to do so in two weeks as the quasi-judicial bodies face a severe crunch of presiding officers as well as judicial and technical members that crippled their functioning. The Centre was also asked to apprise the court of the reasons if persons from the recommended list are not selected. A three-judge special bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the assurance of Attorney General K K Venugopal that the Centre would make appointments in two weeks to the tribunals from the list of persons ...

SC asks govt to fill vacancies in tribunals, chides it for 'cherry picking'

Court asks Centre to make appointments within two weeks to the tribunals, which are facing severe crunch of presiding officers

'Centre emasculating tribunals by not making appointments,' says SC

There are around 250 posts lying vacant at various key tribunals and appellate tribunals such as NCLT, DRT, TDSAT andT

Bill to abolish 9 tribunals passed, govt says 'fully respect' judiciary

A bill seeking to abolish as many as nine appellate tribunals, including the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, was approved by Parliament with the Rajya Sabha passing the proposed legislation

SC junks PIL to declare that NCLT cannot act as appellate authority

Supreme Court has declined to entertain a PIL seeking to declare NCLT cannot act as an appellate authority to decisions of the top court and find flaws so as to circumvent the "rule of law" laid down

Best of BS Opinion: Sedition vs dissent, make tribunals first court & more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

Make tribunals the first court

A draft law to wind up a few tribunals and move their appellate jurisdiction to the high courts is afoot

Karnataka appellate authority sets precedent in reversal of AAR ruling

AAR had disallowed WeWork's ITC claim on detachable partitions; the reversal of its order would set a precedent as to what comes under movable property on whic ITC is allowed