"ENSURE CREDIBILITY OF THE
SYSTEM" – SHRI JAITLEY
TELLS
INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL MEMBERS
CASE
PENDENCY REDUCED BY MORE THAN ONE LAKH
The
Minister of Law & Justice, Shri Arun Jaitley, has called upon
the Members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal to ensure that
the Income Tax assessees are not made to suffer while not losing
focus on revenue collection. Inaugurating the All India Conference
of Members of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal here today, Shri
Jaitley said that the Tribunal should safeguard the dignity of
the institution by maintaining a high level of quality and independence
which was expected of them.
Shri Jaitley
said that there were much larger ramifications and implications
of the pronouncements the Tribunal. He said that foreign investors
who were eager to invest in India would look forward to a stable
fiscal regime and simple fiscal laws. Therefore, the Tribunal
should seek to achieve perfection and credibility, he added. He
said that the Members of the Tribunal should strive achieve maturity
by ensuring complete independence as far as their judicial functions
were concerned. He also emphasised the need for disposal of cases
within a few months so as to ensure credibility of the system.
Shri R. L. Meena,
Law Secretary, said that the Law Ministry was examining the proposal
of considering the Judicial Members of the Tribunal for appointment
as High Court Judges. Praising the performance of the Tribunal
in reducing the pendency of cases, Shri Meena urged the Tribunal
to further reduce the pendency of cases to six months.
The President
of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Shri V. Dongzathang, said
that the pendency of cases is reduced to about 1,72,000 as against
over three lakh cases during 1998-99, thanks to the Government
sanctioning 15 additional benches. He complimented the Law Minister
for the decision to set up the National Tax Tribunal for streamlining
the tax administration and relieving the High Courts.
The Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal, was set up in 1941. It is considered to be
the mother of all tribunals on the model of which other tribunals
are set up. Even Britain followed the Indian model. Though the
12th Law Commission in its report of 1958 suggested
the abolition of the Tribunal, the Tyagi Committee appointed to
enquire into the Direct Taxes Administration, recommended the
Tribunal to be retained under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
