The Appellate Tribunal

In one line

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal is the first independent forum in the customs chain, and sections 129 to 129EE constitute it, define what may reach it, and fix the price of getting there. Precisely: section 129 its constitution; section 129A what may be appealed and what may not; section 129B its orders; section 129C its procedure and benches; sections 129D and 129DA departmental review; section 129DD revision by the Central Government for the excluded classes; section 129E the mandatory pre-deposit; and section 129EE interest on its refund.

Why an independent tribunal

Because the departmental stages cannot supply independence. The adjudicating officer and the Commissioner (Appeals) are officers of the administration whose demand is in issue. The Tribunal is outside it, constituted with judicial and technical members, and it is the first body in the chain that is not part of the party.

And because customs disputes need expertise as well as independence. A High Court judge is not equipped to decide whether a machine falls under one eight-digit tariff item or another, and a purely departmental body is not equipped to be impartial. A tribunal with a judicial member and a technical member is the standard Indian answer, and it is why appeals on classification and valuation stop at the Tribunal on facts and reach the courts only on questions of law.

The provisions

Section 129, Appellate Tribunal. The Central Government shall constitute an Appellate Tribunal to be called the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal consisting of as many judicial and technical members as it thinks fit to exercise the powers and discharge the functions conferred on it by the Act.

Section 129 also provides for the qualifications: a judicial member is a person who has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India, or who has been a member of the Indian Legal Service and has held a post in Grade I of that service for at least three years, or who has been an advocate for at least ten years. A technical member is a person who has been a member of the Indian Customs and Central Excise Service, Group A, and has held the post of Principal Commissioner or Commissioner of Customs or Central Excise or an equivalent or higher post for at least three years. The Central Government appoints a President from among the judicial members or from a person who is or has been a Judge of a High Court.

Section 129A, appeals to the Appellate Tribunal. Any person aggrieved by any of the following orders may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order:

(a) a decision or order passed by the Principal Commissioner of Customs or Commissioner of Customs as an adjudicating authority;