Tribunal reforms bill gets nod, paves way for national body

Minister of state for parliamentary affairs L Murugan informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday that the bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha.

NEW DELHIL: The Cabinet on Thursday approved the Tribunals Reforms Bill that will have the provision for setting up a National Tribunal Commission (NTC), which has been visualised as an independent body to supervise appointments and functioning of around 16 tribunals and look after their administrative and infrastructural needs.Minister of state for parliamentary affairs L Murugan informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday that the bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha. TOI has learnt that NTC will be headed by a retired SC or high court judge for five years or till he or she turns 70 years.People aware of the proposal said the government has proposed the body at the instance of the Supreme Court.The apex court had ordered the constitution of NTC first in May 2018. It reiterated its directive in 2020. In November last year, SC stressed that the government has a constitutional obligation to establish NTC and gave it four months to constitute the commission, and lamented that its directions had not been heeded.In June, the Supreme Court expressed serious concern over the functioning of tribunals across the country, with CJI Surya Kant observing that these bodies have become “a liability for the judiciary” and “a headache” for the government.

The CJI had said, “Tribunals were created by you (government). So it is your headache and a liability for us. Because now the kind of orders we are seeing, barring a few tribunals, these tribunals have become a no man’s land. They are not accountable to anyone.”