The Supreme Court expressed surprise over long-pending vacancies in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal's (ITAT) administrative staff, seeking the Attorney General's intervention to fill the posts at the earliest.
A writ petition filed by Praveen Kumar Bansal highlighted the severe impact of the vacancies on the tribunal's functioning, with several key posts remaining unfilled for years across 30 ITAT benches.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that assistant registrars, PSCs, and other positions have been vacant for a number of years, suggesting that the court issue a short notice to address the matter administratively.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, took note of the submissions and requested the Attorney General to look into the issue, directing a copy of the petition to be supplied to his office.
The court also requested the chief justices of concerned high courts to make available judicial officers to support the functioning of ITAT benches.
The petition seeks directions for filling vacant posts, convening a Departmental Promotion Committee for promotions, and providing a status report with timelines for filling up the vacancies.
