{"id":239941,"date":"2020-11-30T20:34:08","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T15:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=239941"},"modified":"2020-12-04T14:21:49","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T08:51:49","slug":"its-high-time-we-put-an-end-to-the-disturbing-trend-of-govt-ignoring-our-directions-read-why-supreme-court-directed-constitution-of-national-tribunals-commission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/11\/30\/its-high-time-we-put-an-end-to-the-disturbing-trend-of-govt-ignoring-our-directions-read-why-supreme-court-directed-constitution-of-national-tribunals-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s high time we put an end to the disturbing trend of Govt ignoring our directions.’ Read why Supreme Court directed constitution of National Tribunals Commission"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Note:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0This report is a detailed analysis of Supreme Court\u2019s judgment in\u00a0Madras Bar Association v. Union of India[1]<\/a>. To read the guidelines and directions issued by the Court, click\u00a0here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Supreme Court<\/strong>: The 3-judge bench of\u00a0<\/span>L. Nageswara Rao*<\/strong>, Hemant Gupta and S. Ravindra Bhat has issued extensive directions in relating to selection, appointment, tenure, conditions of service, etc. relating to various tribunals, 19 in number, thereby calling for certain modifications to the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities [Qualification, Experience and Other Conditions of Service of Members] Rules, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n

The Supreme Court was once again, within the span of a year, called upon to decide the issue at hand. Last year, the Constitution Bench in Rojer Mathew v. South Indian Bank Ltd.,\u00a0(2020) 6 SCC 1<\/a> had held that the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and Other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and Other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017, as a whole was ultra vires.<\/p>\n

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“That the judicial system and this Court in particular has to live these d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/em> moments, time and again (exemplified by no less than four constitution bench judgments) in the last 8 years, speaks profound volumes about the constancy of other branches of governance, in their insistence regarding these issues.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here is the explainer on the directions issued by the Court:<\/strong><\/p>\n

NATIONAL TRIBUNALS COMMISSION<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
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“We have noticed a disturbing trend of the Government not implementing the directions issued by this Court. To ensure that the Tribunals should not function as another department under the control of the executive, repeated directions have been issued which have gone unheeded forcing the Petitioner to approach this Court time and again. It is high time that we put an end to this practice.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Noticing that the Tribunals are not free from the Executive control and that they are not perceived to be independent judicial bodies, the Court said that there was an imperative need to ensure that the Tribunals discharge the judicial functions without any interference of the Executive whether directly or indirectly.<\/p>\n

Hence,<\/p>\n

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\u201cAn independent body headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court supervising the appointments and the functioning of the Tribunals apart from being in control of any disciplinary proceedings against the Members would not only improve the functioning of the Tribunals but would also be in accordance with the principles of judicial independence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To stop the dependence of the Tribunals on their parent Departments for routing their requirements and to ensure speedy administrative decision making, as an interregnum measure, it was hence directed that there should be a separate \u201ctribunals wing\u201d established in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India to take up, deal with and finalize requirements of all the Tribunals till the National Tribunals Commission is established.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the directions here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

SEARCH-CUM-SELECTION COMMITTEE<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

After it was brought to Court\u2019s notice that the constitution of the Search-cum-Selection Committees as per 2020 Rules does not ensure judicial dominance, the Court made the following directions:<\/p>\n