Parliament on Tuesday approved the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026, which seeks to overhaul the administration and appointment of members to tribunals. Legal experts, however, cautioned that institutional changes alone may not resolve vacancies, pendency and infrastructure gaps.
Once ratified by the President, the Bill will pave the way for a National Tribunals Commission (NTC) to oversee the search and selection of chairpersons and members. It also provides for a National Tribunals Data Grid to maintain information on tribunals.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the tribunals play a complementary role to ensure speedy justice.
“NTC is the “core” of the Bill and would comprise two judicial and two technical members, headed by a former Supreme Court judge or Chief Justice of a High Court. The NTC will make appointments in the commission to make it transparent, independent and merit-based,” Meghwal said.
The move comes amid significant vacancies and pendency. In a December 2025 reply to the Rajya Sabha, the Ministry of Law and Justice said 94 of 518 sanctioned tribunal member posts were vacant, while more than 524,000 cases were pending across 16 tribunals.
The Debt Recovery Tribunals had the highest pendency at 233,901 cases, followed by Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (71,454), the Central Administrative Tribunal (69,102) and the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (42,502).
The government has maintained that filling vacancies is a continuous process and that appointments are made under the statutory framework applicable to each tribunal.
In March, a parliamentary standing committee said 27 member posts in the ITAT were under recruitment and called for time-bound action to strengthen its adjudicatory capacity. It also flagged delays in completing infrastructure projects at ITAT Benches.
The Supreme Court, in its November 2025 Madras Bar Association judgment, had directed that appointments be completed within three months of recommendations and called for an independent NTC to oversee appointments, functioning, disciplinary proceedings and administrative and infrastructural requirements.
Legal experts welcomed the institutional reform but cautioned that implementation would be critical. Ruby Singh Ahuja, senior partner at Karanjawala & Co, said the NTC could add “another layer of judicial and administrative red tape” to an already overburdened system.
Ruby Singh Ahuja, a senior partner and Advocate-on-Record at Karanjawala & Co, said NTC could add “another layer of judicial and administrative red tape” to an already overburdened system Aishwarya Kaushiq, partner at BTG Advaya, said the Bill was a “necessary institutional correction” but could not, by itself, be regarded as a complete solution to vacancies. “The real reform is not simply creating a NTC, but ensuring that vacancies are anticipated rather than reacted to,” Kaushiq said.
The proposed Data Grid, she said, should provide real-time information on sanctioned strength, vacancies, pendency and disposal rates. “It should publicly disclose sanctioned and working strength, vacancies and the duration of vacancies, besides pendency and disposal rates,” Kaushiq said.
Amit Kapur, senior partner at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said the NTC could streamline selection, performance review and accountability, but stressed that vacancies should not continue for months after retirements.
