The National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005

(1) This Act may be called the National Tax TribunalAct, 2005. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint: Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any referencein any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the cominginto force of that provision.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) "Bench" means a Bench of the National Tax Tribunal; (b) "Board of Direct Taxes" means the Central Board of Direct Taxes constituted under theCentral Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963); (c) "Board of Excise and Customs" means the Central Board of Excise and Customs constitutedunder the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963 (54 of 1963); (d) "Central Excise Act" means the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944); (e) "Central Excise Tariff Act" means the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986); (f) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the National Tax Tribunal; (g) "Companies (Profits) Surtax Act" means the Companies (Profits) Surtax Act,1964 (7 of 1964); (h) "Customs Act" means the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962); (i) "Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal" means the Customs, Excise andService Tax Appellate Tribunal constituted under section 129 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962); (j) "Customs Tariff Act" means the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975); (k) "Expenditure-tax Act" means the Expenditure-tax Act, 1987 (35 of 1987); (l) "Gift-tax Act" means the Gift-tax Act, 1958 (18 of 1958); (m) "Income-tax Act" means the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961); (n) "Income-tax Appellate Tribunal" means the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal constituted undersection 252 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961); (o) "Interest-tax Act" means the Interest-tax Act, 1974 (45 of 1974); (p) "law officer" means the Attorney-General for India, the Solicitor General of India or theAdditional Solicitor General of India; (q) "Member" means a Member of the National Tax Tribunal and includes the Chairperson; (r) "National Tax Tribunal" means the National Tax Tribunal established under section 3; (s) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (t) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (u) "Supreme Court" means the Supreme Court of India; (v) "Wealth-tax Act" means the Wealth-tax Act, 1957 (27 of 1957); (w) words and expressions used in this Act but not defined herein and defined in the CentralExcise Act, the Central Excise Tariff Act, the Customs Act, the Customs Tariff Act (hereinafterreferred to as the indirect taxes) or the rules made thereunder or in Chapter V of the Finance Act,1994 (32 of 1994) shall have the meanings, respectively, assigned to them in the said Acts or the rulesmade thereunder; (x) words and expressions used in this Act but not defined herein and defined in the Income-taxAct, the Wealth-tax Act, the Gift-tax Act, the Expenditure-tax Act, the Interest-tax Act or theCompanies (Profits) Surtax Act (hereinafter referred to as the direct taxes) or the rules madethereunder shall have the meanings, respectively, assigned to them in the said Acts or the rules madethereunder.

The Central Government shall, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, establish with effect from such date as may be specified therein, a Tax Tribunal to beknown as the National Tax Tribunal to exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on suchTribunal by or under this Act.

The National Tax Tribunal shall consist of aChairperson and such number of Members as the Central Government deems fit, to be appointed by thatGovernment, by notification in the Official Gazette.

(1) The jurisdiction of the National Tax Tribunalmay be exercised by the Benches thereof to be constituted by the Chairperson. (2) The Benches of the National Tax Tribunal shall ordinarily sit at any place in the National CapitalTerritory of Delhi or such other places as the Central Government may, in consultation with theChairperson, notify: Provided that the Chairperson may for adequate reasons permit a Bench to hold its temporary sittingfor a period not exceeding fifteen days at a place other than its ordinary place of seat. (3) The Central Government shall notify the areas in relation to which each Bench of the NationalTax Tribunal may exercise its jurisdiction. (4) The Central Government shall determine the number of Benches and each Bench shall consist oftwo members. (5) The Central Government may 1* * * transfer a Member from headquarters of one Bench in oneState to the headquarters of another Bench in another State or to the headquarters of any other Benchwithin a State: 2[Provided that no Member shall be transferred without the concurrence of the Chairperson.]