SC Invalidates Key Provisions of Tribunals Reforms Act, Raps Centre

New Delhi: In a major setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down key provisions of the 2021 Tribunals Reforms Act relating to the appointment, tenure and service conditions of tribunal members and presiding officers, holding that the law was a replica of the earlier Ordinance that had already been invalidated.

The court said Parliament “cannot simply override judicial decisions by reenacting” provisions with only minor changes. The sharp observations came in the backdrop of the Centre passing a law that reinstated provisions previously struck down.

In its 137-page judgment, a bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran said: “We must express our disapproval of the manner in which the Union of India has repeatedly chosen not to accept the directions of this Court on issues conclusively settled through a series of judgments. It is unfortunate that, instead of giving effect to well-established principles regarding the independence and functioning of tribunals, the legislature has reenacted provisions that reopen the same constitutional debates.”

Allowing the plea filed by the Madras Bar Association and others, the Supreme Court invalidated several contentious provisions, including the requirement that tribunal appointees must be at least 50 years old. It also struck down the fixed four-year tenure for chairpersons and members, and the provision requiring the Search-cum-Selection Committee to recommend a panel of only two names for each vacancy, a mechanism seen as granting excessive discretion to the executive.

“Stability of tenure and protection of vested rights are essential components of judicial independence, and our earlier directions cannot be lightly departed from,” the CJI said.

Writing the judgment for the bench, the CJI observed that the Act rested on two already rejected premises: It reproduced provisions invalidated earlier without curing the defects, and it relied on constitutional arguments that had already been expressly disapproved.

Endorsing this view, Justice Chandran remarked: “The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 is a replica of the struck-down Ordinance, old wine in a new bottle. The wine whets not the judicial palate, but the bottle merely dazzles.”

The CJI reiterated that once the court strikes down a provision for constitutional infirmity, “Parliament cannot simply override or contradict that judicial decision by reenacting the very same measure in a different form.” What Parliament must do, he said, is cure the defect, either by removing the constitutional flaw or restructuring the statutory framework in line with judicial reasoning.

The verdict also noted that the Indian judicial system is burdened with a massive pendency of cases. Emphasising that the responsibility of reducing this burden does not rest with the judiciary alone, the court said:

“It is a shared institutional duty. The other branches of government must exercise their legislative and executive powers with due regard to constitutional principles and judicial precedent.”

“Respect for settled law is essential to good governance,” the bench added.

The court gave the Union government four months to establish a National Tribunals Commission that must function independently of the executive and follow transparent processes to uphold public confidence.

It clarified that appointments made before the commencement of the 2021 Act, but formally notified after it came into force, would be protected.

The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on November 11 on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Act, 2021. The Act had replaced the 2021 Ordinance, which had itself faced constitutional challenges. Earlier, the court had struck down provisions of the Ordinance reducing tribunal members’ tenure to four years, noting that such short terms encouraged executive influence over the judiciary.

The Ordinance was promulgated in April 2021. Despite the court’s ruling, the Centre went on to pass the Tribunals Reforms Act in August 2021 with provisions nearly identical to those previously struck down.