Tribunals In India, Notes Indian Polity!

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Structure Of Tribunals 

The structure of judiciary along with the tribunals is given below:

 

• Tribunals were not part of the original constitution, it was incorporated in the Indian Constitution by 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.
  • Article 323-A deals with Administrative Tribunals.
  • Article 323-B deals with tribunals for other matters.

• Under Article 323 B, the Parliament and the state legislatures are authorised to provide for the establishment of tribunals for the adjudication of disputes relating to the following matters:
  • Taxation
  • Foreign exchange, import and export
  • Industrial and labour
  • Land reforms
  • Ceiling on urban property
  • Elections to Parliament and state legislatures
  • Food stuff
  • Rent and tenancy rights 

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• The Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 provides for three types of tribunals:
  • The Central Government establishes an administrative tribunal called the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
  • The Central Government may, upon receipt of a request in this behalf from any State Government, establish an administrative tribunal for such State employees.
  • Two or more States might ask for a joint tribunal, which is called the Joint Administrative Tribunal (JAT), which exercises the powers of the administrative tribunals for such States.

Difference Between Two Types Of Tribunals 

 

• While Article 323 A contemplates the establishment of tribunals for public service matters only, Article 323 B contemplates the establishment of tribunals for certain other matters (mentioned above).
• While tribunals under Article 323 A can be established only by Parliament, tribunals under Article 323 B can be established both by Parliament and state legislatures with respect to matters falling within their legislative competence.
• Under Article 323 A, only one tribunal for the Centre and one for each state or two or more states may be established. There is no question of the hierarchy of tribunals, whereas under Article 323 B a hierarchy of tribunals may be created.

 

 Key developments in the Indian tribunal system

Year	Key developments
1941	The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was established as the first Tribunal in India.     The objective was to reduce the workload of courts, expedite adjudication of disputes, and build expertise on tax matters within the Tribunal.1
1969	The First Administrative Reforms Commission recommended that the central government should set up Civil Services Tribunals at the national level and state levels.  These Tribunals would be the final appellate authority for adjudicating on matters related to dismissal, removal from service, and reduction in rank of civil servants.
1974	The Sixth Law Commission (1974), recommend setting up a separate high-powered tribunal and commission for adjudication of matters in High Courts.  This was aimed at reducing arrears of cases in the High Courts.
1976	The Swaran Singh Committee (1976) noted that the High Courts were burdened with service cases by public servants. It recommended setting up: (i) administrative tribunals (both at national level and state level) to adjudicate on matters related to service conditions, (ii) an all-India Appellate Tribunal for matters from labour courts and industrial tribunals, and (iii) tribunals for deciding matters related to various sectors (such as revenue, land reforms, and essential commodities).  It further recommended that the decisions of the tribunals should be subject to scrutiny by the Supreme Court.10   The 42nd amendment to the Constitution was passed.  The amendment empowered Parliament to constitute: (i) administrative tribunals (both at central and state level) for adjudication of matters related to recruitment and conditions of service of public servants, and (ii) other tribunals for adjudication of certain subject matters including industrial disputes, taxation (such as levy and collection of taxes), and foreign exchange.
Since the 1980s	Several tribunals were established under different Acts.   These include the Central Administrative Tribunal for administrative matters, the Securities Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against decisions of financial sector regulators, an Appellate Tribunal where decisions of the Central Film Certification Board could be challenged, and an Appellate Tribunal for Electricity to hear tariff issues.
2017	The Finance Act, 2017 reorganised the tribunal system by merging tribunals based on functional similarity.8  The number of Tribunals was reduced from 26 to 19.  It delegated powers to the central government to make Rules to provide for the qualifications, appointments, removal, and conditions of service for chairpersons and members of these tribunals.8
2021	The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021 was introduced in Lok Sabha in February. As the Bill was pending at the end of the session, an Ordinance with similar provisions was promulgated in April 2021.  They abolish nine tribunals and transfer their functions to existing judicial bodies (mainly High Courts).

Sources: Respective reports, Acts, Bills, and Ordinances as cited in the corresponding items above; PRS.

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Difference Between Tribunal and Court
 

No.	Court of Law	Tribunal
1.	A court of law is a part of the traditional judicial system whereby judicial powers are derived from the state.	An Administrative Tribunal is an agency created by the statute and invested with judicial power.
2.	The Civil Courts have judicial power to try all suits of a civil nature unless the cognizance is expressly or impliedly barred.	Tribunal is also known as the Quasi-judicial body. Tribunals have the power to try cases of special matter which are conferred on them by statutes
3.	Judges of the ordinary courts of law are independent of the executive in respect of their tenure, terms and conditions of service etc. Judiciary is independent of Executive	Tenure, terms and conditions of the services of the members of Administrative Tribunal are entirely in the hands of Executive (government).
4.	The presiding officer of the court of law is trained in law.	The president or a member of the Tribunal may not be trained as well in law. He may be an expert in the field of Administrative matters.
5.	A judge of a court of law must be impartial who is not interested in the matter directly or indirectly.	An Administrative Tribunal may be a party to the dispute to be decided by it.
6.	A court of law is bound by all the rules of evidence and procedure.	An Administrative Tribunal is not bound by rules but bound by the principles of nature of Justice.
7.	Court must decide all questions objectively on the basis of evidence and materials on record.	Administrative Tribunal may decide questions by taking into account departmental policy, the decision of Administrative Tribunal may be subjective rather than objective.
8.	A court of law can decide vires of a legislation	Administrative Tribunal cannot do so

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