30. Establishment of Appellate Tribunal.—The Central Government shall, by notification, establish
an Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against the orders of the Adjudicating Authority under this Act.
31. Composition etc., of Appellate Tribunal.—(1) The Appellate Tribunal shall consist of a
Chairperson and at least two other Members of which one shall be a Judicial Member and other shall be
an Administrative Member.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act,—
(a) the jurisdiction of the Appellate Tribunal may be exercised by Benches thereof;
(b) a Bench may be constituted by the Chairperson with two Members as the Chairperson may
deem fit;
(c) the Benches of the Appellate Tribunal shall ordinarily sit in the National Capital Territory of
Delhi and at such other places as the Central Government may, in consultation with the Chairperson,
by notification, specify;
(d) the Central Government shall, by notification, specify the areas in relation to which each
Bench of the Appellate Tribunal may exercise its jurisdiction.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), the Chairperson may transfer a Member
from one Bench to another Bench.
32. Qualifications for appointment of Chairperson and Members of Appellate Tribunal.—(1) A
person shall not be qualified for appointment as Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal unless he is a
sitting or retired Judge of a High Court, who has completed not less than five years’ of service.
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(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Member unless he—
(a) in the case of a Judicial Member, has been a Member of the Indian Legal Service and has held
the post of Additional Secretary or equivalent post in that Service;
(b) in the case of an Administrative Member, has been a Member of the Indian Revenue Service
and has held the post of Chief Commissioner of Income tax or equivalent post in that Service.
(3) No sitting Judge of a High Court shall be appointed under this section except after consultation
with the Chief Justice of the High Court.
(4) The Chairperson or a Member holding a post as such in any other Tribunal, established under any
law for the time being in force, in addition to his being the Chairperson or a Member of that Tribunal,
may be appointed as the Chairperson or a Member, as the case may be, of the Appellate Tribunal under
this Act.
33. Terms and conditions of services of Chairperson and Members of Appellate Tribunal.—(1)
The salary and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of the Chairperson
and other Members shall be such as may be prescribed and shall not be varied to their disadvantage
during their tenure.
(2) Any vacancy caused to the office of the Chairperson or any other Member shall be filled up within
a period of three months from the date on which such vacancy occurs.
34. Term of office of Chairperson and Members.—The Chairperson and Members of the Appellate
Tribunal shall hold office for a term not exceeding five years from the date on which they enter upon their
office, or until they attain the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier and shall not be eligible for
reappointment.
35. Removal of Chairperson and Member from office in certain circumstances.—(1) The Central
Government may, in consultation with the Chief Justice of High Court, remove from office of the
Chairperson or any Member, who—
(a) has been adjudged as an insolvent; or
(b) has been convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Central Government involves
moral turpitude; or
(c) has become physically or mentally incapable; or
(d) has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions; or
(e) has so abused his position as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public
interest.
(2) The Chairperson or Judicial Member shall not be removed from his office except by an order
made by the Central Government after an inquiry made by Chief Justice of the High Court in which the
Chairperson or Judicial Member has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable
opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges.
(3) The Central Government may suspend from office the Chairperson or Judicial Member in respect
of whom a reference of conducting an inquiry has been made to the Chief Justice of the High Court under
sub-section (2), until the Central Government passes an order on receipt of the report of inquiry made by
Chief Justice of the High Court on the reference.
(4) The Central Government may regulate the procedure for inquiry referred to in sub-section (2) in
the manner as may be prescribed.
(5) The Administrative Member may be removed from his office by an order of the Central
Government on the grounds specified in sub-section (1) and in accordance with the procedure notified by
the Central Government:
Provided that the Administrative Member shall not be removed unless he has been given an
opportunity of being heard in the matter.
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36. Vacancies, etc., not to invalidate proceedings of Appellate Tribunal.—No act or proceeding of
the Appellate Tribunal shall be invalid merely by reason of—
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of the Tribunal; or
(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a Member of the Tribunal; or
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the Tribunal not affecting the merits of the case.
37. Resignation and removal.—The Chairperson or any other Member may, by notice in writing
under his hand addressed to the Central Government, resign his office:
Provided that the Chairperson or any other Member shall, unless he is permitted by the Central
Government to relinquish his office sooner, continue to hold office until the expiry of three months from
the date of receipt of the notice or until a person duly appointed as his successor enters upon his office or
until the expiry of his term of office, whichever is earlier.
38. Member to act as Chairperson in certain circumstances.—(1) In the event of the occurrence of
any vacancy in the office of the Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal by reason of his death, resignation
or otherwise, the senior-most Member shall act as the Chairperson until the date on which a new
Chairperson, appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Act to fill such vacancy, enters upon his
office.
(2) When the Chairperson is unable to discharge his functions owing to absence, illness or any other
cause, the senior-most Member shall discharge the functions of the Chairperson until the date on which
the Chairperson resumes his duties.
39. Staff of Appellate Tribunal.—(1) The Central Government shall provide the Appellate Tribunal
with such officers and employees as it may thinks fit.
(2) The officers and employees of the Appellate Tribunal shall discharge their functions under the
general superintendence of the Chairperson.
(3) The salaries and allowances and other conditions of service of the officers and employees of the
Appellate Tribunal shall be such, as may be prescribed.
40. Procedure and powers of Appellate Tribunal.—(1) The Appellate Tribunal shall not be bound
by the procedure laid down by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), but shall be guided by the
principles of natural justice and, subject to the other provisions of this Act, the Appellate Tribunal shall
have powers to regulate its own procedure.
(2) The Appellate Tribunal shall, for the purposes of discharging its functions under this Act, have the
same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) while
trying a suit, in respect of the following matters, namely:—
(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;
(b) requiring the discovery and production of documents;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d) subject to the provisions of sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872
(1 of 1872), requisitioning any public record or document or copy of such record or document from
any office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents;
(f) reviewing its decisions;
(g) dismissing a representation for default or deciding it ex parte;
(h) setting aside any order of dismissal of any representation for default or any order passed by it
ex parte; and
(i) any other matter, which may be, prescribed by the Central Government.
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(3) An order made by the Appellate Tribunal under this Act shall be executable by it as a decree of
civil court and, for this purpose, the Appellate Tribunal shall have all the powers of a civil court.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3), the Appellate Tribunal may transmit any
order made by it to a civil court having jurisdiction and the civil court shall execute the order as if it were
a decree made by that court.
(5) All proceedings before the Appellate Tribunal shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within
the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and the Appellate Tribunal
shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
41. Distribution of business amongst Benches of Appellate Tribunal.—Where any Benches are
constituted, the Chairperson may, from time to time, by notification, make provision as to the distribution
of the business of the Appellate Tribunal amongst the Benches and also provide for the matters which
may be dealt with by each Bench.
42. Power of Chairperson of Appellate Tribunal to transfer cases.—On the application of any of
the parties and notice to the parties, and after hearing them, or on his own motion without any notice, the
Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal may transfer any case pending before one Bench, for disposal, to
any other Bench.
43. Decision to be by majority.—If the Members of a Bench consisting of two Members differ in
opinion on any point, they shall state the point or points on which they differ, and make a reference to the
Chairperson of the Appellate Tribunal who shall either hear the point or points himself or refer the case
for hearing on the point or points by one or more of the other Members and the point or points shall be
decided according to the opinion of the majority of the Members of the Appellate Tribunal who have
heard the case, including those who first heard it.
44. Members, etc., to be public servants.—The Chairperson, Members and other officers and
employees of the Appellate Tribunal, the Adjudicating Authority, Approving Authority, Initiating Officer,
Administrator and the officers subordinate to all of them shall be deemed to be public servants within the
meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
45. Bar of jurisdiction of civil courts.—No civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or
proceeding in respect of any matter which any of the authorities, an Adjudicating Authority or the
Appellate Tribunal is empowered by or under this Act to determine, and no injunction shall be granted by
any court or other forum in respect of any action taken or to be taken in pursuance of any power conferred
by or under this Act.
46. Appeals to Appellate Tribunal.—(1) Any person, including the Initiating Officer, aggrieved by
an order of the Adjudicating Authority may prefer an appeal in such form and along with such fees, as
may be prescribed, to the Appellate Tribunal against the order passed by the Adjudicating Authority
under sub-section (3) of section 26, within a period of forty-five days from the date of the order.
(2) The Appellate Tribunal may entertain any appeal after the said period of forty-five days, if it is
satisfied that the appellant was prevented, by sufficient cause, from filing the appeal in time.
(3) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1), the Appellate Tribunal may, after giving the parties
to the appeal an opportunity of being heard, pass such orders thereon as it thinks fit.
(4) An Appellate Tribunal while deciding the appeal shall have the power—
(a) to determine a case finally, where the evidence on record is sufficient;
(b) to take additional evidence or to require any evidence to be taken by the Adjudicating
Authority, where the Adjudicating Authority has refused to admit evidence, which ought to have been
admitted;
(c) to require any document to be produced or any witness to be examined for the purposes of
proceeding before it;
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(d) to frame issues which appear to the Appellate Tribunal essential for adjudication of the case
and refer them to the Adjudicating Authority for determination;
(e) to pass final order and affirm, vary or reverse an order of adjudication passed by the
Adjudicating Authority and pass such other order or orders as may be necessary to meet the ends of
justice.
(5) The Appellate Tribunal, as far as possible, may hear and finally decide the appeal within a period
of one year from the last date of the month in which the appeal is filed.
47. Rectification of mistakes.—(1) The Appellate Tribunal or the Adjudicating Authority may, in
order to rectify any mistake apparent on the face of the record, amend any order made by it under
section 26 and section 46 respectively, within a period of one year from the end of the month in which the
order was passed.
(2) No amendment shall be made under sub-section (1), if the amendment is likely to affect any
person prejudicially, unless he has been given notice of intention to do so and has been given an
opportunity of being heard.
48. Right to representation.—(1) A person preferring an appeal to the Appellate Tribunal under this
Act may either appear in person or take the assistance of an authorised representative of his choice to
present his case before the Appellate Tribunal.
(2) The Central Government may authorise one or more of its officers to act as presenting officers on
its behalf, and every person so authorised may present the case with respect to any appeal before the
Appellate Tribunal.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “authorised representative” means a person authorised
by the appellant in writing to appear on his behalf, being—
(i) a person related to the appellant in any manner, or a person regularly employed by the
appellant; or
(ii) any officer of a scheduled bank with which the appellant maintains an account or has other
regular dealings; or
(iii) any legal practitioner who is entitled to practice in any civil court in India; or
(iv) any person who has passed any accountancy examination recognised in this behalf by the
Board; or
(v) any person who has acquired such educational qualifications as the Board may prescribe for
this purpose.
49. Appeal to High Court.—(1) Any party aggrieved by any decision or order of the Appellate
Tribunal may file an appeal to the High Court within a period of sixty days from the date of
communication of the decision or order of the Appellate Tribunal to him on any question of law arising
out of such order.
(2) The High Court may entertain any appeal after the said period of sixty days, if it is satisfied that
the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the period specified in
sub-section (1).
(3) Where the High Court is satisfied that a substantial question of law is involved in any case, it shall
formulate that question.
(4) The appeal shall be heard only on the question so formulated, and the respondents shall, at the
hearing of the appeal, be allowed to argue that the case does not involve such question.
(5) Nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to take away or abridge the power of the court to hear,
for reasons to be recorded, the appeal on any other substantial question of law not formulated by it, if it is
satisfied that the case involves such question.
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(6) The High Court shall decide the question of law so formulated and deliver the judgment thereon
containing the grounds on which any decision is founded and may award any cost as it deems fit.
(7) The High Court may determine any issue which—
(a) has not been determined by the Appellate Tribunal; or
(b) has been wrongly determined by the Appellate Tribunal, by reason of a decision on such
question of law as is referred to in sub-section (1).
(8) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
(5 of 1908), relating to appeals to the High Court shall, as far as may be, apply in the case of appeals
under this section.