SC directs Centre to start filling up vacancies in ITAT

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to initiate within three weeks the process of filling up vacancies of presidents, vice presidents and members in different benches of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals (ITAT) across the country.

A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said after Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar, representing the Centre, submitted that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet was looking into the matter and the process of filling up vacancies was at an advanced stage.

The court allowed the request of Kumar seeking three weeks time and said "the proceedings shall be initiated for filling up of remaining vacancies."

During the proceedings, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for one of the parties, alleged that the process of appointment has been obfuscated and mere lip service has been paid to the matter.

The court had earlier pulled up the Centre over the delay in the appointments, saying that the ITAT was one of the key sources of revenue earning for the government, which was still moving at a snail's pace in filling up the vacancies.

The top court was hearing a PIL filed by one Akshay Pundir, contending that "ad hocism has become order of the day as many of the posts of senior vice presidents and vice presidents have not been filled up".

The petition, filed through advocate Sanjeeb Panigrahi, had said "the timely appointment of Presidents, Vice- Presidents and members will go a long way in tackling the burgeoning tax litigations in the country."

The plea said "the government is not taking steps to appoint the presidents, nor is it clearing the names of vice presidents. Therefore a chaos will arise in business circles if no person would be appointed as President before the vacancy arises. #casansaar (Source - Times of India)