- (1.) THE Commercial Taxes Tribunal undoubtedly has been constituted and is functional also. We have been informed at the Bar that roughly about two thousand cases are pending before the Tribunal.
(2.) WE have also been told that recently disputes/controversies appear to have erupted over continuance of one of the members of the Tribunal, presumably related to his supposed superannuation, based on his date of birth. The fact remains that the said member is not attending to his duty as at present. We have also been informed that there is acute shortage of stenographers and other ministerial and supporting staff, as also supporting infrastructure like typewriters, photocopiers and such like other items.
(3.) WHEN the State Government fulfilled its statutory obligation of constituting the Tribunal, fulfillment of such obligation ought to have been accompanied with provision of necessary infrastructure. In a Tribunal where more than two thousand cases are pending. State Government is under an obligation to consider how to equip the Tribunal with infrastructure so as to ensure that cases are heard and disposed of with promptitude. In any judicial or quasi - judicial forum, stenographers constitute the back bone of the infrastructure, coupled with typewriters and such cither facilities. If there is a Tribunal, but there are no stenographers, surely the Tribunal cannot be considered to be functional and if there is Tribunal and there is just one odd stenographer, it cannot be considered to be fully functional.;