GSTAT Technical Member Qualification Row: Himachal Pradesh HC Dismisses Ex-IAS Officer’s Plea against Relaxation of Eligibility Criteria [Read Order]

The Himachal Pradesh High Court recently dismissed a petition filed by a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), while upholding the validity of two state notifications that relaxed the eligibility criteria for appointment as Technical Member (State) of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).

The petition was filed by Amit Kashyap, a retired IAS officer with over twenty-five years of Group ‘A’ service and a tenure of more than three years as Additional Commissioner (Excise & Taxation).

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The petitioner sought to quash the Notification No. EXN-F(10)-42/2017-Vol.-II dated 19.10.2024 and its Corrigendum No. EXN-F(10) 14/2024 dated 21.11.2024 both of which were issued by the Respondent Principal Secretary, State Taxes and Excise, on the grounds that qualified All-India Service officers were available in Himachal Pradesh and the amendments were ultra vires Section 110(1)(d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017.

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The Notification essentially permitted Class-I Gazetted Officers possessing 25 years of service to be eligible for appointment to the post of Technical Member at the GSTAT, rather than restricting the eligibility to officers who had service of 25 years in Group ‘A’ Service was 

Ishan Kashyap, arguing for the petitioner contended that the statutory provision deliberately conferred exclusive eligibility on officers with twenty-five years in Group A, and that any expansion to include Class-I Gazetted officers diluted both the letter and spirit of the enactment.

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Anup Rattan, Ramakant Sharma, Sharmila Patial, Sidharth Jalta, Raj Negi, Swati Draik, and Shalabh Thakur appearing for the State submitted that the GST council itself had given its approval qua the relaxation in eligibility criteria of Technical Members to the GSTAT while also stating that in the absence of eligible State-service officers meeting the Group A requirement, the Council lawfully recommended substituting “Group A or equivalent” with “Class-I Gazetted officer” having twenty-five years’ service, thereby preserving tribunal functionality.

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A Division bench comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja embarked on a close textual and purposive analysis of Section 110(d) and its proviso.

The Court noted that the proviso empowers the State Government, “on the recommendations of the Council,” to relax the twenty-five-year Group A service requirement, but solely “in respect of officers of such State where no person has completed twenty-five years of service in Group A”.

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However, the Himachal Pradesh High Court emphasized that this mechanism does not extend to All-India Service officers and observed that identical relaxations have been sanctioned in ten other States following identical Council procedures, affirming consistency and uniformity in policy implementation.

Further noting that a similar amendment had empowered officers of All-India Service to be considered for the post of Member Technical, which weren’t priorly permitted.

In light of the observations, the Bench proceeded to dismiss the Petition, leaving the parties to bear their own costs.

To Read the full text of the Order CLICK HERE

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