President Pranab Mukherjee with Chief Justice of India Justice TS Thakur lighting lamps during the opening ceremony of the two day platinum jubilee celebrations of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. (PTI photo)
Concerned about delay in the appointment in the higher judiciary and tribunals, Chief Justice of India TS Thakur today said the government should "expedite" the process of filling up vacancies to ensure speedy delivery of justice.
"I feel that like the higher judiciary in the country, so also I think in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), one of the major problems that has been experienced over the years is the difficulty or the delay involved in filling up the vacancies," he said.
"The delay in the filling up of the vacancies is bound to affect adversely the working of tribunals."
The Chief Justice of India was addressing the Platinum Jubilee celebration of ITAT.
According to the latest Law Ministry data, out of the approved strength of 1,044 judges in 24 high courts, there are 443 vacancies. With an approved strength of 31 judges, the Supreme Court has 5 vacancies.
"I have been given to understand that even today, there are 30 vacancies in ITAT. I think that while we celebrate the platinum jubilee here, we also need to impress upon the government that the process of filling up the vacancies must be expedited," he said.
Stating that the process of filling up the vacancies is initiated by the government, Justice Thakur said only 30 persons have been appointed in ITAT out of a list of 50 candidates recommended about two years ago.
Sharing his experience, Justice Thakur said, "I happened to be heading the selection committee in the immediate past. After a very laborious exercise of three months and spending the entire vacation on interviewing candidates, we prepared a select list of 50 candidates.
"This was submitted to the government some two years back. Out of that list, just about 30 people have been appointed so far. The remaining have not yet been cleared," he said.
Expressing satisfaction over the time taken for justice delivery by ITAT, Justice Thakur said the tribunal takes ordinarily between 6 months to 2 years for disposal of appeals, which in comparison to the ordinary judicial process in high courts and the Supreme Court is "very very encouraging".
But then, he said, this could be further reduced if the appointments are made on time.
Justice Thakur also noted that the process of disposal of cases at the tribunal gets delayed as some of the tax officials are non-committed to arguing the matter.
"Sometimes, the process of disposal gets delayed on account of departmental representatives not being fully ready and committed to arguing the matter because sometimes, it is felt that it's a punishment posting," he said.
If some reforms are carried out and certain small aberrations corrected, then ITAT will become even better, he said.
That apart, Justice Thakur favoured elevation of members of ITAT in high courts and the matter will be discussed at the upcoming chief justices' conference.
"The chief justices' conference has repeatedly resolved that members of an appellate tribunal ought to be considered for elevation to the high court.
"...I promise you that in the next conference which is coming up on April 22-23 this year, chief justices will be instructed to consider depending on the kind of work pending in their respective high courts appointment of members of ITAT under the service quota," he said.
As per the current norms, he said, 33 per cent of judges in high courts come from state judicial services and the remaining from the Bar. Members of the tribunal are counted in that 33 per cent slot.
"I am told that in the 75 years that you are completing today, there have been just 33 elevations to the high courts so far, which means in two years, one member of the tribunal is elevated to the high court. I would be happy if slightly a higher number of members of the tribunal is elevated to the high court," he said.
The elevation of members of ITAT will depend on tax cases with a particular high court, he added.
Emphasising on the need for training, he said there are frequent changes taking place in light of globalisation.
There has been a paradigm shift in taxation system, the Chief Justice added.