(1) The Secretary shall be in overall charge of the office of the Authority and shall function under direct supervision of the Chairperson.



(2) The Secretary shall -



(a) have custody of the records and the official seal of the Authority;



(b) receive all applications and petitions filed before the Authority;



(c) scrutinize applications and petitions and point out omissions and defects in the application/petition and require the applicant/petitioner to make good the omissions or remove the defects within the time granted by the Secretary and in case of non-compliance place such application/petition before the Authority for appropriate orders



(d) forward a copy of the application alongwith its enclosures to the Commissioner to transmit records of the case, if any, and to offer his comments on the application;



(e) place all the applications before the Authority for appropriate orders under sub-section (2) of section 281 of the Customs Act or sub-section (2) of section 23D of the, Central Excise Act or sub-section (2) of section 96D of the Service Tax Provisions, as the case may be;



(f) issue notices or other processes, as may be ordered by the Authority;



(g) verify service of notices or other processes on the parties to the application/petition and obtain necessary orders of the Chairperson in case of defective service;



(h) requisition records from the custody of any person, on the orders of the Authority;



(i) return original records to the person from whose custody they were requisitioned;



(j) allow inspection of the records of the Authority;



(k) carry out any amendment of the records of the Authority to conform to its directions;



(l) grant to the parties to the application/petition certified copies of the orders/advance rulings and documents filed in the proceedings before the Authority;



(m) preserve records of every application /petition and other materials for a period of five years from the date of disposal of the application and to weed out/destroy the same thereafter unless otherwise directed by the Authority; and



(n) discharge any other function as may be assigned by the Authority by special or general order.