Cuttack, Oct. 20: Orissa High Court has issued notice to the Centre, seeking response on the Cuttack Tax Bar Association’s PIL challenging the new eligibility criteria fixed for Mumbai-based president of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

The tribunal president is the departmental head, who exercises administrative control over all the 63 benches of the tribunal in 27 places across the country. The new criteria stipulate that a sitting or a retired judge, who has completed not less than seven years of service as a judge in a high court, is eligible to be considered for the president’s post.

Earlier, senior vice-president or one of the vice-presidents of the tribunal, appointed from among members of the Indian Income Tax Service — Group A, used to be appointed as the president. The tribunal has nine zones with a vice-president as its head. The association has sought quashing of the new eligibility criteria, saying that it is “arbitrary”, “unreasonable”, “discriminatory” and “opposed to judicial hierarchy”.

The new eligibility criteria is, “inconceivable and ridiculous” as a high court judge even on the first day of assuming office has the legal sanction to quash an order passed by the tribunal, if he finds it illegal, the petition alleged.

The division bench of Chief Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.K. Rath has posted the matter for hearing after two weeks, along with the response from the central government. The court issued notices to the Union ministry of law and justice and Union ministry of finance and sought responses within two weeks.

Secretary of the association Biswaranjan Panigrahi filed the petition, citing a letter issued by the department of legal affairs of the Union ministry of law and justice.

The letter was issued on August 29 last year. The letter said that at present, there was no regular president of the tribunal and a selection committee had been formed to make recommendation for the appointment.