Strengthening India’s Tribunal System

Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies that form an important part of India’s institutional architecture. They are usually designed to adjudicate specialised disputes in areas such as taxation, environment, service related matters, company laws and more. Prominent bodies like the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), National Green Tribunal (NGT), and Debt Recovery Tribunals (DRTs) play an important role in the enforcement of legal and regulatory parameters across critical sectors. 

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was the first tribunal established in India, way back in 1941. Additionally, the Parliament was empowered to create tribunals in 1976 with the 42nd amendment to the Constitution, which was based on the Swaran Singh Committee report. And ever since, several tribunals have been established under different acts. While the tribunals have been instrumental in reducing the burden on the courts, it also face challenges in the form of fragmented oversight, inconsistent infrastructure support, delays in appointments and lack of performance monitoring. To address these systemic gaps, the Confederation of Indian Industry published a report titled ‘Strengthening India’s tribunal system’ with the proposal to establish a centralised oversight mechanism. 

The case for a centralised oversight mechanism

According to the report, the central oversight body would be responsible for supervisory and administrative functions across all central tribunals. This also aligns with the Supreme Court’s observations in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997) and Rojer Mathew v Union of India (2019). To initiate this, an amendment may be introduced in the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021. The proposed functions of the body will include: 

• Performance Monitoring: The central authority could initiate a system of periodic evaluation across indicators such as average case disposal time, pendency rates, member vacancy duration and case clearance rate among others. 
• Centralized Data Management: The body will also function like  National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), collating real time data on institution and disposal of cases, pendency, adjournment granted etc.
• Inter-Ministerial Coordination: Such a body will also be responsible to streamline operations across different ministries and address cross-cutting issues. 
• Support to the Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC): The body will also provide logistical and data support to the SCSC to facilitate timely appointments by maintaining real time vacancy rosters, tracking pending recommendations and assisting in due diligence of candidates.
• Independent Grievance Redressal: As tribunals suffer from a lack of a proper grievance redressal mechanism, the central body can help with increasing institutional accountability by addressing administrative complaints. 
• Capacity Building and Knowledge Exchange: The body will also be responsible for training programmes and workshops for tribunals members and staff to enhance consistency across tribunals.
• Reform Initiatives: The body could serve as a neutral platform to address and resolve long-standing structural disputes which have repeatedly led to legal challenges, policy uncertainty, and operational delays. 

Tribunals serve as essential enablers of economic governance, ease of doing business, and rule of law. Thus, overcoming structural and operational challenges are crucial to strengthen the efficiency and credibility of India’s justice system. With a centralised oversight mechanism, tribunals no longer have to work in silos. Furthermore, such a body would also make justice delivery in India more responsive, consistent and future-ready.