Supreme Court defers till September 15 hearing on plea to fill vacancies in various tribunals

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred till September 15 hearing on a petition seeking to fill vacancies in various tribunals, after it was informed that Attorney General KK Venugopal, who was to argue for the Centre, is in self-quarantine.

A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta posted the hearing in the matter on next Tuesday pertaining to filling up of vacancies in various tribunals across the country.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju sought an adjournment in the matter saying Attorney General, who was to represent the Central government, is in self-quarantine. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta clarified that one of his colleagues had tested positive for COVID-19.


"AG is in self-isolation as a precaution. Otherwise, he himself is fit and fine," Mehta said.

Earlier, while hearing plea relating to filling up of vacancies in tribunals, the apex court had expressed serious displeasure over the Centre's "snail-paced approach" to fill large number vacant posts of administrative, judicial and expert members in tribunals.

The top court had said that non-filling up of posts in tribunals rendering them non-functional even though these are performing important tasks like redressal of consumer disputes.