9911796707
TMI Blog2006 (2) TMI 78X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is an essential attribute of rule of law - We would be justified in admitting the petition and granting interim relief X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ment, particularly concerning Revenue, are parties in these proceedings and under section 7(2) of this Act, the appointments of the Chairman and other members are to be made by the Central Government on the recommendations of a three-member Selection Committee consisting of the hon'ble Chief Justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court of India nominated by him, and the Secretaries of Ministry of Law and Justice and Finance. Thus, it is submitted that the Ministries, whose matters are to come up before the Tribunal, have a say in the appointment of the members of the Tribunal. That apart, the hon'ble Chief Justice of India is to be only a member of this three- member committee and on the recommendations of the committee, the Central Gov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s of tax matters in the High Courts are disposed of. It is however pointed out that under section 5(2) of this Act, the Tribunal is ordinarily to sit in Delhi with such other Benches as the Central Government may appoint and under section 5(5), the members of the Tribunal can be transferred by the Central Government though in consultation with the Chair person. As of now, there are Benches taking tax work in almost all the High Courts. It is submitted that almost 40 per cent, of the revenue comes from the city of Mumbai but to begin with the Act does not provide for a Bench here. The tax work is being taken care of by the respective High Courts which are much easily accessible. In this behalf, reliance is placed on the Report of the Parliam ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ai, Additional Solicitor General for respondents Nos. 1 to 3, sought time of 4 weeks to file a reply. This is on the background that the notice has been served on the respondents more than 4 weeks ago. The respondents rely upon the normal procedure of appointments and submit that it will take its own time. But Mr. Desai is not inclined to make a statement that the Tribunal will not be set up until the matter is further heard. The petitioner is, therefore, seeking appropriate interim order. Mr. Desai submits that the petitioner has not relied upon any constitutional provisions apart from article 50 thereof. In his submission, setting up of such a Tribunal is a policy matter and is fully justified under article 323B of the Constitution. In ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unals are now necessary and possibility of abuse is no ground to declare a provision void. He relies on Collector of Customs v. Nathella Sampathu Chetty, AIR 1962 SC 316 in that behalf. We are quite conscious of the guidelines laid down by the apex court in the above matter. However, unlike the case concerning section 45S of the RBI Act, the present case is not one of economic reform but that of transfer of cases to a new Tribunal which is being set up. We cannot ignore that the proceedings which are sought to be transferred are presently going on in various High Courts. The National Tax Tribunal is not constituted as yet. Constituting this Tribunal and transferring the pending cases to this Tribunal in the meanwhile and subsequently decid ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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