Supreme Court: 25-Year Experience Rule for Chartered Accountants in Tribunals Struck Down

The Supreme Court in Madras Bar Association v. Union of India has clarified that Chartered Accountants (CAs) do not need to complete 25 years of experience to qualify as technical members in tribunals such as the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT).

This clarification was issued by a Bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, following a request from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The Court was responding to concerns arising from its earlier judgment in the Madras Bar Association case, which struck down parts of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.

During the hearing, counsel for ICAI highlighted that the Court had already invalidated the rule requiring advocates to be at least 50 years old to be appointed as tribunal members. He argued that applying a 25-year practice requirement for CAs would also mean they could be appointed only after turning 50, which was equally arbitrary.

The Bench accepted this reasoning and agreed that the same principle should apply to Chartered Accountants. The Court observed that fixing such a long experience requirement would unfairly restrict eligible CAs and deny them opportunities for public service.

The Court stated:

“Requiring Chartered Accountants to complete 25 years of service before being considered for appointment as technical members is unconstitutional. Since a similar rule for advocates was struck down, the same logic must apply here as well.”

The Court further directed that this observation must be taken into account by the Union Government when it frames a fresh law to replace the struck-down provisions.