HYDERABAD: The Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellant Tribunal (CESTAT), on Monday, opened its new regional bench in Hyderabad which covers Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Yanam. The regional bench, based in the building of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB), was inaugurated by Justice Raghuram Goda, president of CESTAT.
Establishment of this regional bench comes as a relief to thousands of appellants from AP, Telangana and Yanam who earlier had to visit Bengaluru regional bench for hearing of matters. This caused severe inconvenience to trade and commerce industry which appealed to the CESTAT to have a division bench in Hyderabad. Though the traders and the then state government of united AP, had placed this request in 1998, the Central government accepted it only recently.
From Monday onwards, the CESTAT would begin functioning in Hyderabad and all the pending cases from its jurisdiction have been moved from Bengaluru to the Hyderabad bench, headed by Justice Raghuram Goda. According to the tribunal registrar A Mohan Kumar, there are around 6,800 pending cases that will be heard here. “We will try our best to clear all the pending appeals as early as possible,” he said.
In the wake of piling appeals related to customs, excise and service tax across the country, Justice Raghuram Goda recommended the Central government to sanction more additional benches, covering maximum areas in various states. Three of the new regional benches at Chandigarh, Allahabad and Hyderabad have been established based on his recommendations.
Speaking at the inauguration of new office, here, Justice Goda said, “It was a long lasting demand by many state governments to have regional offices in their states. Besides, we also wanted to clear the pending appeals as soon as we could.’’
Justice Challa Kodanda Ram of Hyderabad High Court, Sulekha Beevi, CS membe), R Shakuntala, Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, Hyderabad, Thirumali, president of Bar Association of Hyderabad, were present at the event.
