I
am extremely glad to be present here at the Valedictory Session of the Platinum
Jubilee celebrations of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. The Tribunal which was
set up in 1941 to function as an impartial quasi-judicial body to resolve the
disputes between the Revenue and tax-paying public, is completing 75 years now.
The concept of Tribunals has been borrowed from the French judicial system
which had a set of administrative courts that ran parallel to the civil courts.
The intention behind this system was to ease the civil courts from
administrative matters while laying separate standards for100 administrative disputes. The modern
Indian Republic was born as a Welfare State and thus the burden on the
Government to120 provide a
host of welfare services to the people was immense. The quasi-judicial powers
acquired by the administration led to a huge number of cases with respect to
the manner in which these administrative bodies arrived at their decisions. The
vast number of welfare legislations coupled with the right to judicial review
was thought to burden the civil courts with more matters than they would be
able to handle. Thus, various Tribunals for income tax matters, railway rates,
labour200 matters, and company
courts were given statutory legitimacy to function parallel to ordinary civil
courts. The French system of Tribunals is in contradistinction to the ‘Rule of
Law’, where everybody in a State shall be subjected to some common law240 and there is no need for extraordinary
Tribunals to deal with cases of Government and its servants. As per Rule of
Law, it was unusual that when the injured individual sought protection against
the administration he had to turn to an administrative body, which was
certainly closer to the administration than the judicial courts. In India, the
adjudication of administrative300
disputes has been commented by the judiciary through various cases placed
before it over a period of time. As of now, we understand that a complete
adaptation of French system is not possible in India because judicial review of
Tribunals’ orders cannot be fully removed, with judicial review being an
integral part of our Constitution. While the matter seems to360 be put to rest with Supreme Court’s
famous decision in Chandra Kumar’s case, the debate has not ended yet and much
remains to be debated in the context of working, independence and efficacy of
the Tribunals. There have been many400
success stories of the Tribunals, yet there have been instances of delays and
favouritism as well though the Courts have consistently held that these bodies
must maintain procedural safeguards while arriving at their decisions and
observe principles of natural justice. Yesterday, during the inauguration of
Platinum Jubilee Session, when hon’ble President of India was also present, I
had briefly touched upon the criticism of the tribunalisation of justice from
some quarters. While in some quarters, increasing tribunalisation has been
criticized480 as an
encroachment on the judiciary’s independence and contrary to the constitutional
scheme of the separation of powers between judiciary500 and the executive, the other concern has
been that though they were supposed to address the issue of delays and pendency
in the existing judicial system, they seem to be bogged down with the same
problems. It is also alleged that the Tribunals lack independence and are not
better than the administrative arm of the Ministries. One thing is clear that the
Tribunals are here to stay. The Tribunals play an important role in the sphere
of the adjudication of disputes. Tribunals function differently from courts,
from the manner of appointment to the procedure followed. The Tribunals do not
have600 to follow the uniform
procedure as laid down under the Civil Procedure Code and under the Indian
Evidence Act but they have to follow the principles of natural justice.
Nevertheless, they seek to achieve the same objective as that of the courts,
and that is to impart and deliver Justice. Friends, within the four walls of
judicial review, the Tribunals carry a great responsibility of not only
resolving disputes but also exhibiting higher standards of performance as
mostly the tribunals have been reviewing or overseeing appeals from the actions
of the administration. The effectiveness of the tribunals can be gauged700 and, in fact, the very objective of
setting up of the Tribunals can be said to be fulfilled only when720 the Tribunals come up to the
expectations of its stakeholders. If the litmus test is that whether the institution
is maintaining consistency of being fair and judicious, apart from rendering
speedy justice, I think the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has passed with
distinction. Working of the institution depends upon the reputation which it
builds up over a period of time and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal has lived
up to the expectations. Friends, we must recognize the intrinsic link between800 the simple tax dispute resolution
mechanism and the effect it has on overall economic growth of a country. A good
tax administration which includes an efficient and prompt tax dispute
resolution mechanism, plays a major role in the growth of840 a globalized economy, either in general
terms or in specific sectors like improving ease of doing business or
attracting foreign investment. Tribunals are important instruments of
governance and must function in fair and judicious manner outside the regular
cumbersome judicial process. While the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal strives to
achieve the mandate assigned to it, I am of the view900 that it must constantly evaluate its
internal procedures to look for the avenues for improvements. Whether it is digitisation
of documents or setting up of e-courts, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal must
find new ways and means to speed up disposal for time-bound justice. There is
an immediate need for taking up reforms like pre-trial hearing, which is so960 popular in developed countries.
Improvement of infrastructure wherever necessary must be aggressively pursued.
The requirement of skill upgradation through various learning techniques and
evolving with the new developments in taxation, following socio-economic
revolution in the last three decades or so and1000
India’s increasing presence across the globe, can hardly be overemphasized. My
Ministry is willing to support any measure for the improvement of functioning
of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. I am sure, the three technical sessions
in the last two days have been enlightening and extremely helpful to the
participants and deliberations here have been able to stimulate the thought
process in your minds. I am looking for new and innovative ideas out of your
stimulated and ignited minds. With1080
these words, I wish the Tribunal all the best on this occasion of platinum
jubilee celebrations. I am confident that1100
the Tribunal shall continue to serve the nation and the people of this great nation
as an instrument of governance in a much better way. I thank all of you for
patiently hearing me and giving me an opportunity to speak on this occasion. 1144
