New Delhi: The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, which proposes a complete restructuring of how tribunals are managed, primarily through the establishment of a new oversight body—the National Tribunal Commission (NTC)—was passed in the Lok Sabha Monday.
Aimed at addressing concerns about what the Supreme Court identified as “inefficiency and lack of independence” of India’s 16 tribunals, the Tribunals Reforms Bill, if passed, could reshape the functioning of quasi-judicial bodies in India.
The most transformative feature of the Bill is the establishment of the NTC. Headquartered in New Delhi, the NTC is designed to be an independent body tasked with conducting selection processes for tribunal vacancies, reviewing performance, and managing a new digital repository of case information.
The NTC will consist of a chairperson and four members: Two judicial members and two technical members. To ensure high-level expertise, the chairperson must be a former judge of the Supreme Court or a chief justice of a High Court.
Technical members are required to have at least 25 years of experience in fields, such as public administration, finance, law, or technology.
Repealing 2021 Act & need for reform
The 2026 Bill is a legislative response to the Supreme Court’s 2021 directive and is aimed at replacing the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.
In the Madras Bar Association vs Union of India (2021), a bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta, and S. Ravindra Bhat had highlighted the necessity of setting up an independent overarching body like an NTC to manage appointments, infrastructure, and disciplinary control uniformly across all tribunals, free from ministry control.
In the same ruling, the SC struck down key provisions of the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, ruling that short tenures, restrictive age criteria, and heavy executive control over appointments violated judicial independence and the separation of powers.
Even in the landmark seven-judge bench judgment of L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997), the Supreme Court conceptualised the need for a single, independent nodal agency to insulate tribunals from executive interference.
Here, the top court ruled that the power of judicial review vested in the high courts (under Article 226/227) and the Supreme Court (under Article 32) is an indelible part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.
In a tweet on Sunday, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh hailed the bill, saying, “Hopefully the various Tribunals, and more particularly the NGT(National Green Tribunal), will rediscover their voice and authority and fulfill their legal mandate in letter and spirit……. Having defended the untenable 2021 law all the way to the Supreme Court, it (Modi government) now finds itself compelled to enact many of the very reforms it had stoutly resisted, and which were so badly needed. Confrontation has finally yielded to concurrence.”
By creating an independent commission and following the court’s standards for tenure and selection, the government aims to “insulate tribunals from executive interference”, which was the legal reasoning of the Supreme Court in the Madras Bar Association judgement.
A centralised selection and appointment process
The Tribunals Reforms Bill seeks to bring uniformity and transparency to how tribunal leaders are chosen. Under the new framework, the NTC will constitute Search-cum-Selection Committees for each tribunal. These committees will include members of the commission, retired high court judges, and senior government secretaries.
A unique addition is the empanelment of experts from relevant fields to assist these committees in assessing the suitability of candidates.
Crucially, the bill mandates that the Central government must process these recommendations and make appointments within three months of receiving them, a move intended to reduce the chronic vacancy issues currently plaguing tribunals.
To ensure stability and judicial independence, the bill standardises the terms of service across different tribunals. It proposes that chairpersons will hold office for five years or until they reach the age of 70. Plus, members will hold office for five years or until they reach the age of 67.
Accountability is also a primary focus. The NTC will oversee the conduct of inquiries into complaints against tribunal chairpersons and members.
While the Central government retains the power of removal for specific offenses – such as insolvency or moral turpitude – removal on grounds of misbehavior or incapacity requires a formal inquiry by a committee headed by a Supreme Court judge.
The National Tribunals Data Grid
Reducing the data gap, the bill proposes the creation of the National Tribunals Data Grid. This portal will serve as a comprehensive repository of all case-related information for the tribunals specified in the bill, such as the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and the National Green Tribunal.
This initiative is expected to improve transparency for litigants and allow for better performance monitoring of the judicial process.
The government estimates an annual expenditure of approximately Rs 27.14 crore to fund the NTC and its Secretariat. The Secretariat will be headed by an officer of the rank of secretary to the Government of India, ensuring that the commission has the administrative weight required to manage the vast network of Indian tribunals.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also read: The missing piece in India’s reform story—a strong tribunal system