• Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman administered the oath of office to Justice (retd) Sanjaya Kumar Mishra as first president of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).

• Mishra’s appointment marks the beginning of the operationalisation of the GSTAT, a crucial body for resolving GST-related disputes.

• Mishra was a former Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court and was selected by a search-cum-selection committee headed by the Chief Justice of India.

What is the purpose of GSTAT?

• Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is constituted under provision of Section 109 of Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017.

• It is the appellate authority to hear various appeals under the said Act.

• It consists of a principal bench and various state benches. 

• As per the approval of the GST Council, the government has notified the principal bench, to be located in New Delhi, and 31 state benches at various locations across the country. 

• Setting up of state-level benches of GSTAT would help businesses by way of faster dispute resolution.

• The move will pave way for early resolution of over 14,000 cases of disputed tax demands.

• Currently, taxpayers aggrieved with ruling of tax authorities are required to move the respective High Courts. The resolution process takes a long time as High Courts are already burdened with backlog of cases and do not have a specialised bench to deal with GST cases.

• The tribunal will ensure swift, fair, judicious and effective resolution to GST disputes, besides significantly reducing the burden on higher courts.

• The establishment of the GSTAT would further enhance the effectiveness of the GST system in the country.

• GSTAT shall be presided over by its president and shall consist of one technical member (Centre) and one technical member (state). 

• The president of the national bench would be a former judge of the Supreme Court or former Chief Justice of a High Court.

• The process for the appointment of judicial members and technical members is already in progress.

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