Supreme Court strikes down provisions of Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021
The Supreme Court has struck down key parts of the 2021 Tribunals Reforms law. These provisions dealt with how tribunal members are appointed, their tenure, and service conditions. The court found these re-enacted clauses violated separation of po...
By Indu Bhan, ET Bureau | Updated:
IANS
The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down provisions of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, which governed the appointments, tenure, and service conditions of members of various tribunals, as unconstitutional.
A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran also expressed disapproval of the manner in which the Union of India repeatedly chose to not accept its directions on the very issues that had already been conclusively settled through a series of judgements.
It held the 2021 Act was a "slightly tweaked reproduction" of provisions which were earlier negated by it, and that it violated the constitutional principles of separation of powers and judicial independence.
The bench said it compared the provisions of the Tribunal Reforms Ordinance, 2021 - which were declared unconstitutional by the top court in July 2021 - and those of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.
The comparison showed that instead of curing the identified defects, "all provisions which were struck down by this court" were reproduced "with minor tweaking" in the enactment, it noted.
This amounted to a legislative override in the strictest sense and an attempt to nullify binding judicial directions without addressing the underlying constitutional infirmities, the bench said.
"Once the court has struck down a provision or issued binding directions after identifying a constitutional defect, Parliament cannot simply override or contradict that judicial decision by reenacting the very same measure in a different form," the CJI said.
While the judiciary cannot dictate policy, it can and must ensure that legislative choices conform to the Constitution, the top court said.
It granted the government a period of four months to establish a National Tribunals Commission as consistently directed in the earlier judgments.
"The creation of such a commission is an essential structural safeguard designed to ensure independence, transparency, and uniformity in the appointment, administration, and functioning of tribunals across the country," the judgment stated.
The court said legislations affecting tribunals must respect independence, impartiality, and effective adjudication.
A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran also expressed disapproval of the manner in which the Union of India repeatedly chose to not accept its directions on the very issues that had already been conclusively settled through a series of judgements.
It held the 2021 Act was a "slightly tweaked reproduction" of provisions which were earlier negated by it, and that it violated the constitutional principles of separation of powers and judicial independence.
The bench said it compared the provisions of the Tribunal Reforms Ordinance, 2021 - which were declared unconstitutional by the top court in July 2021 - and those of the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.
The comparison showed that instead of curing the identified defects, "all provisions which were struck down by this court" were reproduced "with minor tweaking" in the enactment, it noted.
This amounted to a legislative override in the strictest sense and an attempt to nullify binding judicial directions without addressing the underlying constitutional infirmities, the bench said.
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"Once the court has struck down a provision or issued binding directions after identifying a constitutional defect, Parliament cannot simply override or contradict that judicial decision by reenacting the very same measure in a different form," the CJI said.
While the judiciary cannot dictate policy, it can and must ensure that legislative choices conform to the Constitution, the top court said.
It granted the government a period of four months to establish a National Tribunals Commission as consistently directed in the earlier judgments.
"The creation of such a commission is an essential structural safeguard designed to ensure independence, transparency, and uniformity in the appointment, administration, and functioning of tribunals across the country," the judgment stated.
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The court said legislations affecting tribunals must respect independence, impartiality, and effective adjudication.
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