Q. With reference to Tribunals Reforms Act 2021, which of the following statements is /are correct?
1. It has created a separate tribunal for Goods and Service Tax called The Goods and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal.
2. The Act empowers the Supreme Court to provide for the qualifications, tenure and other service conditions of the members of tribunals.
3. The Act has merged several tribunals based on their domains.
Choose the correct answer using the options given below:
Exp) Option d is the correct answer
Statement 1 is incorrect – CGST Act (not Tribunals Reforms Act 2021) provides for the Appeal and Review Mechanism for dispute resolution under the GST Regime. The act empowers the Central Government to constitute, by notification, an Appellate Tribunal known as the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority. Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal is the form of the second appeal in GST laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between Centre and States.
Statement 2 is incorrect – Judicial bodies like the Supreme Court and High Court have no role and the rules are framed by the Centre. The Central Government can make rules to provide for the qualifications, appointment, salaries and allowances, resignation, removal and other conditions of service of the Chairperson and Member of a Tribunal. This is done after taking into consideration the experience, specialisation in the relevant field and the provisions of this Act. There is a search and selection committee for deciding on the appointments to be made.
Statement 3 is incorrect – The Finance Act of 2017 had merged tribunals based on domains. It also gave powers to the central government to notify rules on the composition of search-cum-selection committees, tribunal members’ qualifications, terms and conditions of service like salary, removal, etc. The new tribunal reforms act removes these provisions from the finance act.
