New Delhi — The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of 33 Technical Members to the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) for a tenure of four years or until the members reach the age of 67, whichever is earlier. The appointments include one Technical Member (State) and one Technical Member (Centre) at the Principal Bench in New Delhi, along with multiple Technical Members serving at various State Benches.
Key Appointments at the Principal Bench
Among the key appointments, A Venu Prasad, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1991 batch, has been appointed as the Technical Member (State) at the GSTAT Principal Bench, New Delhi. Additionally, Anil Kumar Gupta, a retired Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer from the Customs and Indirect Taxes (C&IT) cadre, has been named the Technical Member (Centre) at the same bench.
Technical Members Appointed Across State Benches
The list features an extensive roster of retired IRS officers, primarily from the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre, appointed as Technical Members (Centre) across various State Benches of GSTAT. Notable among them are:
- Ajay Dixit
- Alok Chopra
- Amand Shah
- Ashish Varma
- Bijoy Bihari Mohapatra
- Bijoy Kumar Kar
- D P Nagendra Kumar
- Deep Shekhar
- Duvvuri Krishna Srinivas
- Gurdeep Singh
- Hir Bhagat Negi
- J Michael Kennedy
- Jogiranjan Panigrahi
- Kishori Lal
- M Mathew Jolly
- Nirmal Kumar Soren
- Pradeep Kumar Goel
- Pramod Kumar (currently Technical Member at National Anti-Profiteering Authority)
- Pramod Kumar Singh
- Rajiv Kapoor (currently Principal Commissioner, Directorate General of Performance Management)
- Raju Ahuja
- Ram Niwas
- Ramamoorthi Sriram
- Ranjan Kumar Sahoo
- Sandeep Kumar (currently Chairman, Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax Settlement Commission – CESTAT)
- Satish Kumar Agrawal
- Shaik Khader Rahman (currently Principal Commissioner, Delhi, CBIC)
- Sudha Koka (currently Commissioner, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics – NACIN, Palasamundram)
- Sungita Sharma
- Sunil Kumar Das
- Sunil Kumar Sinha
Strengthening the Tribunal with Experienced Officials
The appointments aim to bolster the GSTAT’s capacity to adjudicate complex indirect tax disputes with the inclusion of seasoned professionals having decades of experience in administration and tax services. Many of the newly appointed members have held key positions in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and other government bodies, bringing valuable expertise to the tribunal.
About the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal
GSTAT functions as the appellate authority for disputes relating to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Customs duties. The tribunal plays a vital role in ensuring swift and fair resolution of tax matters, reducing litigation burden on courts and providing a dedicated forum for specialized adjudication.
