New Delhi, Nov 25: With many tribunals in the country performing “identical functions”, government has given a fresh push to its pans to cut down their number from the present over 35 to 15 amid opposition by some ministries.
The Law Ministry has issued a fresh reminder to all central ministries and departments to give details of the number of tribunals working under them. It has also sought a response on how many of them can be merged to bring down their number.
Responding to the Law Ministry move, the Department of Revenue in the Finance Ministry has expressed its inability to merge tribunals under it.
Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property, Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Authority for Advance Rulings for Income Tax and Authority for Advance Rulings for Customs and Central Excise are some of the bodies under the Department of Revenue.
From nearly 37 tribunals, Law Ministry plans to bring down the number to 15 as several are performing “identical functions”.
On November 19, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda held a meeting with top officials of his ministry to discus the progress in bringing down the number of tribunals. The move is in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy of doing away with laws and procedures which create confusion and obstruct smooth governance.
The Department of Legal Affairs in the Law Ministry has written to all Union ministries and departments to furnish details of tribunals functioning under their administrative control and explain the “possibility of merging the functions of tribunals with some other tribunals”.
