SC surprised over decade-long vacancies in ITAT administrative staff

The bench was hearing a writ petition concerning longstanding vacancies in the tribunal’s administrative setup, which, according to the plea, have severely affected its functioning

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed surprise over the large number of long-pending vacancies in the administrative establishment of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), and sought the intervention of the Attorney General for India to ensure that the posts are filled at the earliest.

The bench appeared concerned at the state of affairs with CJI surprised that these posts had remained unfilled for a long period. (HT file photo)

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a writ petition filed by Praveen Kumar Bansal concerning longstanding vacancies in the tribunal’s administrative setup, which, according to the plea, have severely affected its functioning.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing in the matter, submitted before the court that several key posts in the tribunal had remained vacant for years across 30 ITAT benches in the country.

“All posts of officers are lying vacant for a number of years,” Rohatgi told the bench, adding that vacancies extended across the administrative hierarchy.

“Assistant Registrars are vacant, PSCs are vacant, everything is vacant,” he submitted, while suggesting that the court could issue a short notice and take up the matter administratively.

“We will do something because we are also surprised that why these posts are long vacant,” observed the CJI.

Seeking clarity on the extent of the problem, the bench asked whether the vacancies were confined to the principal bench of the tribunal or whether the issue persisted across regional benches as well.

“Everywhere. For 10 years the posts are lying vacant. I don’t know how these bodies function,” Rohatgi responded.

Taking note of the submissions, the court said it would request the intervention of Attorney General R Venkataramani in the matter. “We will request the Attorney General to look into it,” it said.

As per the order passed by the bench, a copy of the petition has been directed to be supplied to the office of the Attorney General so that the issue relating to unfilled posts in the tribunal can be addressed expeditiously. It further requested that the chief justices of the concerned high courts make available judicial officers to support the functioning of ITAT benches.

Bansal’s petition has sought directions for immediate initiation and completion of the process for filling vacant posts of deputy registrar and assistant registrar in the tribunal, referring to a representation dated December 27, 2025. It also asked for directions to convene the long-pending Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) for promotions to posts such as senior private secretary, private secretary and other subordinate staff, which, according to the petitioner, have remained pending since 2015 and 2017. Additionally, the petitioner sought a status report from the authorities specifying timelines for filling up the vacancies.