On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled the “knee jerk” actions taken in filling vacant tribunal posts and said that the bureaucracy had been handling the matter “lightly.”
A bench headed by chief justice N V Ramana, which is actively tackling the issue of massive vacancies in different tribunals across the nation, stated that nothing significant occurred after a few judges’ appointments at first.
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“We have received (pleas for) an extension of time for people who are members from the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) …Some knee-jerk decisions were made, and nothing was done afterward. We don’t know the fate of the members, and many of them are retiring. The bureaucracy has taken the issue (the matter) at face value,” observed the bench comprising justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, who has been working with the bench in addressing the matters related to vacant positions, tried to provide the list of vacant positions and the procedures taken to fill them.
The bench stated that it would consider the case after two weeks.
The Supreme Court has requested the center to confirm appointments in tribunals facing an acute shortage of presiding officers technical and judicial members.
According to the data released during a hearing held in August last year, approximately 250 posts remain vacant in various necessary Tribunals and appellate courts throughout the country.
In its affidavit submitted in September 2021, the center stated that it had made 84 appointments to six tribunals, including ITAT and NCLT.
There was no recommendation of SCSC Search cum Selection Committees (SCSC) is pending in the meantime.
The Centre also gave the chart with details of appointments in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) and Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).
“In all the total, appointments of 84 were made to different tribunals between the period between 2020 between 2021 and 2020,” the statement declared.
