Composition of GST Appellate Tribunals ‘unconstitutional’, rules Madras HC

The Madras High Court has said that the constitution of GST Appellate Tribunals (GSTAT) under the current GST regime is “unconstitutional”, underlining that the number of judicial members must be more than the number of technical members on the panel.

The provisions of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act lay down the composition of the appellate tribunals for tax matters as comprising one judicial member and two technical members (one each for central and state governments).

The petitioners -- Advocate V. Vasanthakumar and Revenue Bar Association -- had challenged this composition, contending that the number of technical members on the tribunal cannot exceed the number of judicial members, reported legal news digest Bar & Bench.

The petitioners cited the Supreme Court decision in the Union of India vs R. Gandhi case wherein the apex court held that the number of judicial members on any bench of National Company Law Tribunal or National Company Law Appellate Tribunal must be more than or equal to the number of technical members.

The SC underlined that “in no circumstances” should the number of technical members be in majority as compared to judicial members.

The Finance Ministry and the GST Council, through their counsel, submitted that in the case of the GSTAT is traceable to Article 246A (exclusive power of Parliament to make laws concerning GST) and not Article 323B (general power of the legislature of enact laws for the creation of tribunals) of the Constitution.