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Tribunal bill likely to be introduced in Lok Sabha today
The Union government is likely to table The Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2026, which proposes creation of long-pending National Tribunals Commission (NTC) to oversee the selection process for filling up the vacancies in various tribunals across the country, in the Lok Sabha on Monday, according to the List of Business, on the Lok Sabha’s website
The Union government is likely to table The Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2026, which proposes creation of long-pending National Tribunals Commission (NTC) to oversee the selection process for filling up the vacancies in various tribunals across the country, in the Lok Sabha on Monday, according to the List of Business, on the Lok Sabha’s website.
The National Tribunals Commission, according to the draft bill, will also review the performance of chairperson and members of tribunals, submit annual reports to the Centre, and maintain a National Tribunals Grid.
Congress lawmaker Jairam Ramesh said his party was in support of the bill, which is likely to chart “a new future” for 16 semi-judicial tribunals across the country, including the National Green Tribunal, set up in 2010. The bill, Ramesh said, came following directions of the Supreme Court last year and it should rectify key changes the Centre had attempted through a much different Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021.
“This bill seeks to implement the Supreme Court’s directions in the landmark Madras Bar Association judgment of November 19, 2025, that had struck down key provisions of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 and called for an independent National Tribunals Commission for appointments. Since the very existence of an independent NGT was at stake, I had also joined the challenge to the 2021 Act in the Supreme Court,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
In its November 19, 2025 order, the top court struck down key provisions of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 for violating judicial independence and the separation of powers. Ramesh was among the petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of the law.
Among the changes, top court invalidated the 2021 law’s 50-year age limit requirement for appointment, which excluded younger yet qualified advocates, restored a five-year tenure for members by striking down shortened four-year tenure as envisaged in the legislation, and also struck down a rule requiring the selection committee to propose two names per vacancy by reinstating a single-name recommendation process to limit executive discretion.
The top court importantly had directed the Centre to establish a National Tribunals Commission within four months, with the objective of reducing executive control and ensuring a more independent and transparent administration of tribunals.
“Having defended the untenable 2021 law all the way to the Supreme Court, it (the 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,” Ramesh said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said there is hope now the NGT finds its voice and makes public the high-powered committee’s report on the Great Nicobar Island Project. He added the new bill should prevent the executive from arbitrarily increasing or decreasing tenures, or modifying terms of service to suit interests.
According to the List of Business, the 2026 bill is listed to be introduced by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha on Monday “to improve the efficiency, ensure independence, transparency, and uniformity in the qualifications, appointment, terms and conditions of service of Chairpersons and Members of various Tribunals, the administration and functioning of the Tribunals, to establish a National Tribunals Commission and to make consequential amendments in related enactments and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
The draft bill, which HT has seen, states the National Tribunals Commission will have its headquarters in Delhi and consist of a chairperson and four members, of whom, two will be judicial members and two technical members.
For appointment as the commission chairperson, a person has to be a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a former chief justice of a high court. A former chief justice of a high court or a high court judge will be eligible to become judicial members. Technical members need to have special knowledge and experience of not less than 25 years in the fields of public administration, finance, law, accountancy, banking, management or technology. It fixes the tenure of the chairperson to five years or until age 70, whichever is earlier, while for members, it is five years or until age 67, whichever is earlier.
Senior advocate Raj Panjwani said while the new bill aims to act on the top court’s directions, to fix shortcomings of the 2021 law, it may not be fool-proof either and may require a proper debate.
“The bill states the chairperson of the Commission and the members of the Commission will be appointed by the Central government, provided that the Centre shall consult the Chief Justice of India before making an appointment. Here, there could be so many connotations with the word consult. Instead, it should state prior consultation and consent instead. The bill overall specifies the terms of service and brings a comprehensive act with a fixed methodology for all tribunals and its selection process, which is certainly less cumbersome than amending each individual acts. However, a parliamentary committee should be referred to here, particularly to study the impact on individual tribunals,” Panjwani added.
