The Indian government has taken a major step towards streamlining GST dispute resolution by appointing judicial and technical members to the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT). This move aims to make the tribunal fully operational and reduce the burden on higher courts.
Justice (retd) Sanjaya Kumar Mishra was appointed as President of the Principal Bench back in May 2024. Now, the Centre has expanded the tribunal’s leadership with three new appointments. Mayank Kumar Jain, a retired judge from the Allahabad High Court, joins as a judicial member. A Venu Prasad, a retired IAS officer, and Anil Kumar Gupta, a retired IRS officer, have been named as Technical Members for State and Centre respectively at the Principal Bench in New Delhi.
The notification from August 4, 2025 marks significant progress in establishing GSTAT’s structure. However, states still need to appoint their own technical members to make the system fully functional across India. The government has already set up 31 state benches in preparation for this nationwide rollout.
So far, only a handful of states have forwarded their recommendations. Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, Bihar, and Maharashtra/Goa are among the few that have taken this crucial step. Other states need to follow suit quickly to ensure uniform GST dispute resolution across the country.
Currently, without a functioning GSTAT, all GST-related disputes land directly in high courts or the Supreme Court. This creates unnecessary delays and backlogs in the judicial system. The operationalization of GSTAT benches promises to provide taxpayers with faster resolutions and ease the pressure on India’s higher judiciary.
The government’s appointments include 31 technical members and 52 judicial members spread across various state benches. This substantial investment in human resources underscores the importance given to creating an efficient GST dispute resolution mechanism.
Tax experts have long emphasized the need for a specialized tribunal like GSTAT. It’s designed to handle the technical nuances of GST cases more effectively than regular courts. The tribunal’s structure combines judicial expertise with technical knowledge from both central and state tax administrations.
As the remaining states appoint their technical members, India moves closer to having a complete GST dispute resolution framework. This will likely improve the ease of doing business and boost confidence in the GST system among taxpayers and businesses nationwide.
The establishment of GSTAT represents a watershed moment in India’s indirect tax administration. It promises to deliver quicker justice in tax matters while maintaining fairness and technical accuracy in decisions.