All You Want To Know About The Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2021 Passed By Lok Sabha

Key Highlights

Abolition of Appellate Tribunals: Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, Airports Appellate Tribunal, Authority for Advanced Rulings, Intellectual Property Appellate Board and the Plant Varieties Protection Appellate Tribunal are the five tribunals which are sought to be abolished by the Bill and their functions are to be transferred to the existing judicial bodies.

Search-cum Selection Committee: As per Section 3 (7) of the Bill, the Chairperson and the Members of the various tribunals are to be appointed on the recommendations of the Search-cum Selection Committee. The members of the committee are: (i) the Chief Justice of India, or a Supreme Court Judge nominated by him, as the Chairperson (with casting vote), (ii) two Secretaries nominated by the Union government, (iii) the sitting or outgoing Chairperson, or a retired Supreme Court Judge, or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court; and (iv) the Secretary of the Ministry under which the Tribunal is constituted (with no voting right).

For state tribunals, there will be a separate search committee consisting of the following members: i) the Chief Justice of the High Court of the concerned state, as the Chairman (with a casting vote), (ii) the Chief Secretary of the state government and the Chairman of the Public Service Commission of the concerned state, (iii) the sitting or outgoing Chairperson, or a retired High Court Judge; and (iv) the Secretary or Principal Secretary of the state's general administrative department (with no voting right).

The Union government has to 'preferably' decide on the recommendations of the search-cum selection committee within 3 months of the date of the recommendation.

Tenure: A per Section 5 of the Bill, the Chairperson of a tribunal shall hold office for a term of four years or till he/ she attains the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier. For the members of the tribunal, the term is four years or till he or she attains the age of sixty-seven years, whichever is earlier.

Key Issues with the Bill

The Bill suffers from the same flaws of the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 ("Ordinance") promulgated by the President in April 2021 which it sought to replace.

In July 2021, the Supreme Court in the case of Madras Bar Association v. Union of India had struck down the provisions requiring a minimum age for appointment as chairperson or members as 50 years and prescribing the tenure of four years. It held that such conditions are violative of the principles of separation of powers, independence of judiciary, rule of law and Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

However, under the proviso to Section 3, the minimum age requirement of 50 years still finds a place in the Bill. Similarly, the tenure for the Chairperson and the members of the tribunal remains four years.

Furthermore, Section 3(7) also sought to undo the judgment of the Apex Court which held the provisions related to the recommendation of two names for each post by the Search-cum-Selection Committee and requiring the decision to be taken by the government preferably within three months.

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