15Appellate Tribunal

(1) The Central Government may, by notification, establish for each State in which this Act is in force an Appellate Tribunal to be known as the Illegal Migrants (Determination) Appellate Tribunal for deciding appeals preferred under section 14 against orders made by Tribunals in the State and specify the principal place of sitting of such Appellate Tribunal.

(2) No person shall be appointed as a member of an Appellate Tribunal unless he is or has been a Judge of a High Court.

(3) An Appellate Tribunal shall consist of as many members, not being ¹ [less than two] and more than six, as the Central Government may think fit.

(4) The Central Government shall appoint one of the members of an Appellate Tribunal to be the President thereof.

(5) An Appellate Tribunal shall sit in its principal place of sitting or any such other place or places as the President thereof may, from time to time, appoint.

(6) The powers and functions of an Appellate Tribunal may be exercised and discharged by benches constituted by the President thereof from amongst the members thereof ² [which may either be single member benches or benches consisting of not less than two members.]

(7) The Central Government shall make available to every Appellate Tribunal such staff as may be necessary for the discharge of its functions under this Act.

(8) Every memorandum of appeal to an Appellate Tribunal shall be made in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed, and, in the case of an appeal preferred by an applicant under sub-section (2) of section 8, shall also be accompanied by such fee, not being less than twenty-five and more than one hundred rupees, as may be prescribed.

(9) Every appeal shall be preferred within thirty days from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against was communicated to the appellant:

Provided that the Appellate Tribunal may, if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from preferring the appeal within the said period, admit an appeal after the expiry of the aforesaid period of thirty days.

³ [(10) Every Appellate Tribunal shall have the same powers as are vested in an appellate court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while hearing an appeal.]