Tribunals were created as specialized, quasi-judicial bodies to deliver fast, expert and cost-effective justice outside regular courts. Since their constitutional recognition (Arts. 323A–B) and statutory enactments, tribunals aimed at easing judicial burden.
Role of Tribunals in reforming judicial system:
- Specialisation: Tribunals such as the NCLT, NGT, ITAT and TDSAT have brought domain expertise to complex matters (company law, environment, tax, telecom), improving quality and speed of decision-making.
- Reduction of Court load: By handling specialised disputes, tribunals have reduced pressure on regular courts, helping decongest dockets and enabling judges to focus on constitutional and civil/criminal backlogs.
- Cost-effective justice: Tribunals operate informally (not bound by CPC/Evidence Act) and often dispose matters quicker than higher courts, beneficial in technical/commercial disputes.
- Judicial Innovations: NGT provides environmental remedies such as interim relief, compensation that traditional courts struggled to operationalise rapidly.
- Rationalisation initiative: The Tribunal Reforms (2021) consolidated tribunals (approx. reduced from 26 → 19) to remove overlap and streamline administration.
Major challenges undermining tribunal success:
- Executive control: Appointments, service conditions and removals largely lie with the executive. The Supreme Court in Rojer Mathew (2019) flagged defects such as short fixed tenures and potential re-appointment bias.
- Separation-of-powers friction: The Chandra Kumar (1997) judgment affirmed High Court supervision over tribunals, creating uncertainty about finality and leading to repeated judicial interventions.
- Pendency & vacancies: Many tribunals suffer chronic vacancies and backlogs, defeating the speed objective. For example, the Armed Forces Tribunal pendency is at 18,800.
- Overlapping jurisdiction: Multiple bodies with similar or intersecting mandates caused inconsistency and litigation over proper forums.
- Capacity gaps: Technical members often lack legal training while procedural heterogeneity across tribunals creates unpredictability for litigants.
Reforms needed:
- Statutory National Tribunal Commission to secure merit-based appointments, uniform standards, fixed tenures and insulation from executive pressure.
- Judicial-executive balance: Selection panels must include judiciary leadership (CJI or nominee) and independent experts, respecting the safeguards enshrined in Rojer Mathew case.
- Timely recruitment: Fill vacancies; train technical members in adjudicatory law; create pan-India benches where demand exists.
- Clear appellate architecture: Limit frivolous High Court interference while preserving judicial review for law and jurisdiction.
Conclusion:
Structural reforms, ensuring independence, capacity and clear institutional design will convert tribunals from partial fixes into a sustainable pillar of India’s justice delivery system.
‘+1’ Value Addition:
- Tribunals like CAT, NGT, and NCLT provide quicker, expert adjudication. For e.g., NGT has disposed of over 35,000 cases since 2010.
- With over 4.5 crore cases pending in Indian courts (NJDG, 2024), tribunals ease judicial burden.
- SC in Rojer Mathew v. South Indian Bank, 2019 struck down provisions of Tribunal appointment rules as they violate judicial primacy.
- Over 240 tribunal posts remain vacant while 4-year terms discourage experts from joining tribunals, delaying justice delivery.
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