It also provides for adjudication by the NTT of disputes over the determination of rates of Customs and central excise duties on goods and the valuation of goods for the purpose of assessment of such duties as well as in matters relating to levy of tax on service in pursuance of Article 323B of the Constitution.
This tribunal is to take over the appellate work done by high courts in the context of direct and indirect taxes.
The scheme has been hurriedly conceived and the Ordinance has been issued contrary to the spirit of Article 123, which confers legislative powers on the President to be exercised extra-ordinary situations, when Parliament is not in session.
Much needs to be said whether Article 123 has been invoked appropriately, but that is not the subject of this write-up.
There are a number of contradictions in the Ordinance. Section 4 stipulates that the NTT shall consist of a chairperson and the number of judicial and technical members the central government shall deem fit.
There is no definition of chairperson in the Ordinance, but judicial and technical members have been defined.
Judicial member means a member of the NTT and includes the chairperson. Technical member means a member of the NTT who is not a judicial member within the meaning of clause(q). These definitions hardly make any sense and indicate poor draftsmanship.
