Tribunals on Trial

In a TV discussion on prime time programme India Legal, part of APN news channel, Editor-in-Chief Rajshri Rai discusses the problems plaguing tribunals. These include lack of infrastructure, unsatisfactory service conditions and delays by lawyers and parties. Another issue is the independence of tribunals. What they need are efficient, well-qualified judicial and technical members to ensure swifter and efficacious justice delivery and a recent apex court judgment could just see matters improving for tribunals

- Rajshri Ral

"ACCESS to justice and confidence of the litigant public in impartial justice being administered by tribunals need to be restored.” This strong observation and its urgent tone were not lost to many. It was part of a July 2021 judgment made by a Supreme Court bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat, wherein provisions in the Tribunals Reforms Ordinance 2021, which fixed the term of members of various tribunals as five years, were set aside. The judgement paves the way for better recruitment of tribunal members and improved functioning.

After removing this hurdle, the Supreme Court called upon the centre to ensure that all vacancies in tribunals are filled up without delay. The Court gave this judgement following a PIL filed by Justice Mukul Shrawat, former judge, NCLT, and argued by Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai.

Originally, tribunals were set up to deliver specialised and swift justice, and to reduce the burden of caseload in courts. But with time, the system got clogged and dysfunctional. Executive interference, pendency and recruitment delays are some of the hurdles facing tribunals.

The recent judgement will have a positive impact on the tenure of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) members. Members who had to retire due to “legislative fiat” can now be reappointed, said Justice Mukul Shra wat, former judge, NCLT.