ANIRUTHAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner challenges the appointment of respondents 4 and 5 to the office of the Vice President of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

(2.) The main basis of challenge is that the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and Other Authorities (Qualification, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules 2017 were struck down by the Supreme Court in Rojer Mathew vs. South Indian Bank Ltd., (2020) 6 SCC 1 (Rojer Mathew).

(3.) The contention on behalf of the petitioner is that the constitution of the Search-cum-Selection Committee was not in accordance with either the dictum of the Supreme Court in Rojer Mathew or in accordance with the law existing previously. According to the petitioner, the interim orders passed in Rojer Mathew would not salvage the appointment of respondents 4 and 5 herein inasmuch as those interim orders were only applicable to appointments made when the writ petitions that were disposed of in Rojer Mathew were pending. In support of this contention, learned counsel for the petitioner draws our attention to paragraph 224 of the judgment in Rojer Mathew wherein the court held as under:-