Politics affecting law officers appointment?

Concerned over undue delay by the Union government in fling appeals in taxation matters particularly where large sums are involved, the Supreme Court on Monday said whether ‘coalition politics’ also affects the appointment of efficient law officers who are well verse with revenue legislations and the Constitution.

As the additional solicitor general Mohan Parasran explained the reasons for filing an appeal relating to Rs90 crore recovery from Citibank after a lapse of 694 days, chief justice SH Kapadia told him to “please see you appoint advocates who can draft (petitions) properly and have some knowledge of income tax laws.”

Expressing anguish over government’s pusillanimous attitude towards the matters that have high stakes, the outgoing CJI felt that the appointment of law officers was ‘not on the basis of their merit’.

“They are appointed on some other consideration. There is also coalition politics in their appointment’’, CJI sharing the bench with justice AK Patnaik told the ASG.

Last week, the court had slammed the government for ignoring the directions for filing an affidavit explaining the delay in moving appeals in the tax matters of substance.

It had directed the finance and law ministries to examine the issue and put requisite mechanism in place.

The CJI’s observations assume significance in view of the fact that the Union government has also conceded in parliament that revenue disputes estimated at Rs58,636 crore were pending in the high courts and the apex court.

ASG Parasran said an affidavit already filed the director general of Direct Taxes says that a customised software has been developed and installed in the Directorate of Legal and Research to examine the  data of SLP proposal and also track the movement of the file till it’s sent to law ministry.

He said a probe has been ordered by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to determine the reasons for inordinate delay in filing an appeal against adverse order in the Citibank case.