Tribunals

Tribunals Reform Act 2021 abolished several appellate tribunals and authorities and transferred their jurisdiction to existing judicial bodies.

• Establishes a Search cum selection committee under Finance Act 2017
• Chairperson and members appointed on its recommendation
• Headed by CJI orJudge of SC or retired Chief Justice of HC
• Term of office of chairperson 4 yrs of till 70 years and members till 67 years
• person less than 50 years of age not eligible

Issues

• 4 year term of office with upper age limit 70 and 67 years . Minimum age 50 years - Madras Bar Association v/s Union Of India case held fixing minimum age and a short tenure of members act as deterrent for competent persons to seek appointment
• Search cum selection committee - Madras Bar association vs UoIndia- executive influence may be expanded to judicial appointments in tribunals

Need for tribunals

• Reducing pendency of cases
• Faster delivery of justice
• Cost efficient and more effective in certain cases- eg environment etc

Issues with ordinance

• Breakdown of doctrine of separation of powers as executive interference in function of tribunals- appointment and removal eg. recent removal of Chairperson of tribunal by central government and then reinstatement after SC repudiation
• Lack of independence selection committee role
• Shortage of Human Resource eg CAT has 27 out of 64 posts as vacant
• High pendency- Vidhi centre for Legal Policy analysis- despite increase in disposal rate there is a high rate of pendency due to reasons like- avoidable adjournments, high workload on presiding officers, dependency on parents ministry

Way forward

• Establishing a National Tribunal Commission- separation of administrative and judicial functions. all tribunals under a single nodal agency suggested by SC in L Chandra Kumar vs UoIndia 1997. It can monitor working of tribunals and ensure uniformity in appointment system
• Improving selection process as per LCI 272nd report with minimal government interference
• Time bound redressal mechanisms
• Benches of tribunals to remove geographical barriers
• Qualified Human Resources