Bengal: Uncertainty looms over launch of Alipore GST Tribunal on December 1

Kolkata: The state government is unsure whether its GST tribunal in Alipore will become operational on December 1 as planned, following the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down key provisions of the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation & Conditions of Service) Act, 2021. The Act governed the appointment, tenure and service conditions of tribunal members across sectors.

“The judgment has complicated the whole situation. Our tribunal was scheduled to start from December 1, but I cannot say whether it will start on that particular day,” said Shrawan Kumar, Principal Chief Commissioner of Central GST, Kolkata Zone, on the sidelines of a GST 2.0 programme organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI).

The Bengal government has already appointed members to the GST tribunal, and the infrastructure required to make it operational from December 1 is in place. Kolkata has two benches—one for Bengal and another covering Sikkim and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

However, sources in Nabanna said the Centre has not issued any communication following the Supreme Court verdict, which held that the 2021 Act had reintroduced provisions earlier declared unconstitutional, thereby violating separation of powers and undermining judicial independence. The Court directed the Centre to set up a National Tribunals Commission within four months to ensure independent and transparent functioning of tribunals.

“Since the tribunal reforms law has been struck down, any appointment or tenure framework mirroring the invalidated provisions may face challenge. If the tribunal’s member appointments follow the four-year term, fixed age criteria or an executive-heavy selection process, their validity could be questioned. I don’t know how constitutional it will be unless the government is given interim time of six months or a year to comply. So we are keeping our fingers crossed,” a Nabanna official said.

Kumar added that a grievance redressal committee meets every three months, with 30 members from various trade bodies participating to address issues to the extent possible.