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Gujarat High Court on Friday had agreed to hear a petition filed for challenging the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) and the Appellate Authority of Advance Ruling (AAAR). The petition was filed by advocate Nipun Singhvi contending that the adjudicating authorities are tribunals for all purposes. The reference was taken from the case of Columbia Sportswear Company v. Director of Income Tax (Bangalore), in which it was laid down that, “The test for determining whether a body is tribunal or not is to find out whether it is vested with some judicial power of the state by any law to pronounce upon rights or liabilities arising out of some special law”.
In the judgment of the Supreme Court in Union of India v. R Gandhi, which contemplated and made guidelines on the appointment of members to the National Company Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), in which the court held that the tribunals performs functions very similar to the High Court and therefore must have similar powers as of a High Court and therefore they must consist of a judicial member. Taking all these arguments into considerationj bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and B.N Karia of High Court also issued notice to the Centre, the GST Council and the Government of Gujarat. Advocate Vishal J Dave, the council of the petitioner contended that there was a retired Supreme Court Judge in the heading committee of AAR but after the enactment of the GST, the government eliminated the judicial member of the AAR and AAAR. They also submitted that the GST act provides that decision of AAR and AAAR is binding over the applicant and therefore these bodies are acting in a judicial capacity.
The next date of hearing will be April 13, 2018.
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