Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal

CESTAT

Emblem of India
Organization
Establishment	1982
Country	India
Appointees	Indian Revenue Service Officers & Serving/Retired Justices of High Courts
Status	Autonomous Body attached to the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
Headquarters	New Delhi
Sanctioned Strength	[Executive Officers: 21]
website	http://www.cestat.gov.in
Agency Chief
	Hon.Justice R.M.S Khandeparker

The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), was created to provide an independent forum to hear the appeals against orders and decisions passed under the Customs Act 1962, Central Excise Act 1944 as amended from time to time and Gold (Control) Act 1968. The Gold (Control) Act has since been repealed. The Tribunal is also having appellate jurisdiction in Anti Dumping matters and the Special Bench headed by the President, CEGAT, hears appeals against the orders passed by the Designated Authority in the Ministry of Commerce. The Tribunal also hears the appeals under the Service Tax, and the Tribunal has now been renamed as the Customs Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal. There are four Benches in Delhi, four Benches in Mumbai and one each at Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. Each Bench consists of a Judicial Member and a Technical Member. To expedite disposal of smaller cases, a bench of single Member is also constituted to deal with these matters. The Tribunal is the Appellate Authority on matters relating to classification and valuation with the appeals lying to the Supreme Court in these matters. It was constituted in 1982 and has completed 25 years of existence. Formerly known as the Customs Excise and Gold Control Appellate Tribunal (CEGAT), its name was changed to the current name to incorporate service tax under its wing.

Functions

The CESTAT is held in high regard by all those associated with the levy of Customs, Excise & Service Tax. The work of the tribunal has been distributed among respective benches, deal with matters relating to settling disputes about the rate of duty of customs or excise, settlement of valuation disputes / classification disputes. The Tribunal has jurisdiction in matters relating to Anti Dumping and is authorized to hear appeals against the orders of the designated authority of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Benches consist of one Member (Technical) and one Member (Judicial). Members may dispose of cases pertaining to valuation disputes in which, value of the absolute or difference in duty involved or the amount of fine / penalty involved exceeds Rs.50,000/- As far as question of facts is concerned, CESTAT is the ultimate authority and no further appeals are entertained against the finding of facts recorded by the Tribunal. The decision of the Tribunal is considered final, though the order passed is appellable to the Supreme Court of India.

Authorities

The sanctioned strength of the tribunal is 21 (Inclusive of President/Members). They are assisted by various judicial and enforcement staff to discharge their duties.

Executive officers

President : The president is the administrative head of tribunal exercising jurisdiction over whole of India. Sits in the Principal Bench at New Delhi. By regulation, only retired Chief Justices of High Courts or Justices of Supreme Courts are appointed to this post.

Vice Presidents : Head the Regional Benches at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkatta. Senior-most Member (technical) at the regional bench is designated as Vice President for administrative purposes.

Member (Technical) : Are Indian Revenue Service Officers, in the rank of Special Secretary to the Government of India. Applicants to this post are required to have at least 5 years of field experience as Commissioners of Customs & Excise. The selection process is rigorous and appointments are made only after a written exam and an exhaustive interview by the Cabinet Appointment Committee (comprising the Union Cabinet Secretary, Finance Secretary & President-CESTAT) in addition to clearance from the Central Vigilance Commission & approval from the Prime Minister's Office. Such stringent entry barriers exist to ensure that only the brightest and those with upmost integrity make it to this post. All Members are guaranteed stable tenures, hence face zero interference in their proceedings.

Member (Judicial): Are drawn from the Bar Council of India, with at least 15 years of practice in the relevant field. Recruited through the same channel as above.

Judicial / Enforcement officers:

Departmental Representatives, Joint Commissioners / Additional Commissioners (Represent the Customs & Excise department in the bench against the appellants.)

Support Staff: Registrar

Dy.Registrar / Asst.Registrar / Superintendents /

Inspectors / Technical Officers.

Jurisdiction of officers

	Bench Location	Name of Officers	Jurisdiction
1	Principal Bench, New Delhi	Hon’ble Shri Rakesh Kumar Hon’ble Shri M. Veeraiyan	Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Harayana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh.
2	Regional Bench, Mumbai & Ahmadabad	Hon’ble Shri P.G. Chacko Hon'ble Shri Ashok Jindal Hon'ble Shri. B.S. V. Murthy Hon'ble Ms. Archana Wadhwa	Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman&Diu
3	Regional Bench, Kolkata	Hon’ble Shri S.S. Kang	All North Eastern States, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa.
4	Regional Bench, Chennai & Bangalore	Hon’ble Sri M.V.Ravindran Hon’ble Sri P. Karthikeyan Hon'ble Ms. Jyoti Balasundaram Hon'ble Dr. Chittaranjan Satapathy	Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshwadeep, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry.

References

External links

• Official website of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal
• [1]
• [www.cbec.gov.in/excise/cx-circulars/.../reductn-govt-litigatn-proforma.pdf]