30. Appellate Tribunal.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Appellate Tribunal
established under section 110 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) shall be the Appellate Tribunal for
the purposes of this Act and the said Appellate Tribunal shall exercise the jurisdiction, powers and
authority conferred on it by or under this Act:
Provided that the Technical Member of the Appellate Tribunal for the purposes of this Act shall be
called the Technical Member (Petroleum and Natural Gas) and shall have the qualifications specified in
sub-section (2) of section 31.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003), the Central
Government may, for the purposes of this Act, appoint one or more Technical Members (Petroleum and
Natural Gas) on the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity or designate a Technical Member of the said
Tribunal having the qualifications specified in sub-section (2) of section 31 and when a Technical
Member (Petroleum and Natural Gas) is appointed, he shall be in addition to the three other members
appointed under the said Act.
31. Technical Member (Petroleum and Natural Gas).—(1) The Technical Member (Petroleum and
Natural Gas) shall be appointed from the panel prepared by the Search Committee constituted under subsection (2) of section 4.
(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Technical Member (Petroleum and Natural
Gas) of the Appellate Tribunal unless he—
(i) is, or has been, a Secretary for at least one year in the Ministry or Department of the Central
Government having adequate experience in energy sector, especially in matters relating to Petroleum
and Natural Gas sector; or
(ii) is, or has been, a person of ability and standing, having adequate knowledge or experience in
dealing with matters relating to exploration, production, transmission pipelines, marketing or
regulation of petroleum, petroleum products or natural gas, economics, commerce, law or
management.
32. Terms and conditions of service of Technical Member (Petroleum and Natural Gas).—The
term of office, the salaries and allowances payable to and the other terms and conditions of service of the
Technical Member (Petroleum and Natural Gas) shall be the same as applicable to the other members of
the Appellate Tribunal.
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33. Appeals to Appellate Tribunal.—(1) Any person aggrieved by an order or decision made by the
Board under this Act may prefer an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal:
Provided that any person preferring an appeal against an order or decision of the Board levying any
penalty shall, while filing the appeal, deposit the amount of such penalty:
Provided further that where in any particular case, the Appellate Tribunal is of the opinion that
deposit of such penalty would cause undue hardship to such person, it may dispense with such deposit
subject to such conditions as it may deem fit to impose so as to safeguard the realisation of penalty.
(2) Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be filed within a period of thirty days from the date on
which a copy of the direction or order of decision made by the Board is received by the aggrieved person
and it shall be in such form, verified in such manner and be accompanied by such fee as may be
prescribed:
Provided that the Appellate Tribunal may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of
thirty days if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause for not filing it within that period.
(3) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Appellate Tribunal may, after giving the parties
an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit.
(4) The Appellate Tribunal shall send a copy of every order made by it to the parties to the appeal and
to the Board.
(5) The appeal filed under sub-section (1) shall be dealt with by the Appellate Tribunal as
expeditiously as possible and endeavor shall be made by it to dispose of the appeal finally within ninety
days from the date of receipt of appeal:
Provided that where any such appeal could not be disposed of within the said period of ninety days,
the Appellate Tribunal shall record its reasons in writing for not disposing of the appeal within the said
period.
(6) The Appellate Tribunal may, for the purpose of examining the legality or propriety or correctness
of any order or decision of the Board referred to in the appeal filed under sub-section (1), either on its
own motion or otherwise, call for the records relevant to disposing of such appeal and make such orders
as it thinks fit.
34. Procedure and powers of the Appellate Tribunal.—The provisions of sections 120 to 124
(both inclusive) of the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) shall mutatis mutandis apply to the Appellate
Tribunal in the discharge of its functions under this Act as they apply to it in the discharge of its functions
under the Electricity Act, 2003.
35. Power of Appellate Tribunal to make rules.—The Appellate Tribunal may, by notification,
make rules consistent with the provisions of this Act as to the conduct and procedure in respect of all
proceedings before it under this Act.
36. Orders passed by Appellate Tribunal to be executable as a decree.—(1) Every order made by
the Appellate Tribunal under this Act shall be executable by the Appellate Tribunal as a decree of a civil
court, and for this purpose, the Appellate Tribunal shall have all the powers of a civil court.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Appellate Tribunal may transmit any
order made by it to a civil court having jurisdiction and such civil court shall execute the order as if it
were a decree made by that court.
37. Appeal to Supreme Court.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil
Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) or in any other law, an appeal shall lie against any order, not being an
interlocutory order, of the Appellate Tribunal to the Supreme Court on one or more of the grounds
specified in section 100 of that Code.
(2) No appeal shall lie against any decision or order made by the Appellate Tribunal with the consent
of the parties.
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(3) Every appeal under this section shall be preferred within a period of ninety days from the date of
the decision or order appealed against:
Provided that the Supreme Court may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of ninety
days, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the appeal in
time.