The Government has appointed 33 Technical Members to the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT). This is an important step to operationalise the tribunal, which could bring certainty among GST assessees.
According to an order of the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), while two retired bureaucrats – A Venu Prasad (IAS, Punjab Cadre of 1991 batch) and Anil Kumar Gupta (IRS) – will serve as Technical Members (State) on the Principal Bench of GSTAT at New Delhi, the remaining 31 members will be posted in the State benches. All the members will have a tenure of 4 years or till they attain the age of 67 years, whichever is earlier. They will all draw a salary of Rs 2.25 lakh a month. It may be noted that last year, the government appointed Justice (Retd.) Sanjaya Kumar Mishra as the President of the GSTAT.
Commenting on the appointment of 33 technical members, Manoj Mishra, Partner and Tax Controversy Management Leader at Grant Thronton Bharat said over the years, the absence of a functional GSTAT had led to mounting litigation and legal uncertainty for businesses across the board. Now, with the Tribunal’s framework, rules, and appointments beginning to take shape, there’s a sense of cautious optimism. If judicial positions and state-level coordination progress swiftly, we could see the first benches begin operations before the year ends.
“For GST to evolve into a truly stable tax regime, it must deliver not just ease of compliance, but speed and certainty in dispute resolution. This is the moment to convert momentum into meaningful closure,” he said.
GSTAT has been constituted under Section 109 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, which provides for constitution of the GSTAT as the second appellate authority within the GST framework. The process of original adjudication as well as the first appeal happens through individual officers under the Act, but the second appeal against the orders of the first appellate authorities under the Central as well as State tax administration lies with the GSTAT constituted under the CGST Act. GSTAT has been given the responsibility to hear appeals under all the four GST laws passed by Central as well as State officers. Therefore, this is the first forum at which the adjudication process converges under all GST laws and across all tax administrations.
On Monday, in its report tabled in the Lok Sabha, the Standing Committee on Finance expressed concern over the Tribunal not being fully operational nationwide. It noted that significant delays persist in appointment of members, particularly Technical Members (State), with recommendations received from only a few States, namely Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Bihar, and Maharashtra/ Goa. The committee, therefore, urged the Ministry to actively pursue and coordinate with the remaining State Governments to expedite the constitution of Search-cum-Selection Committees, to make the benches functional without further delay.
While initial support staff appointments on deputation are a positive ad hoc measure, the Committee emphasised the need for parallel, regular recruitment for long-term stability and efficiency. “The Committee would like to re-emphasise that the persistent delays in Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)’s full functionality adversely impacts the larger GST ecosystem, resulting in prolonged litigation, overburdening of High Courts, and denial of timely relief to taxpayers. The Committee, therefore, desires that the Ministry should adopt a time-bound approach to complete all remaining formalities,” the report said.
Published on August 5, 2025
