DMK MP P Wilson writes to Electronics & IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for establishing regional benches of TDSAT

Rajya Sabha member and Senior Advocate P Wilson has written to the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw seeking the establishment of regional benches of the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellant Tribunal (TDSAT)..In his letter dated July 19, Wilson sought establishment of such regional benches at Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata apart from the Principal Bench at Delhi. "The tribunal is doing the work of three major tribunals without the proportional increase in infrastructure and manpower," the letter reasoned. .Wilson also called for appointment of more members to the TDSAT, and for adequate staff as well as infrastructure as deemed necessary by the Chairperson to be provided. .Elaborating on the need for such action, Wilson stated that since the enhancement of the TDSAT's jurisdiction in 2017, there has been a huge imbalance in the work load of the tribunal vis-à-vis the infrastructure available to it. He explained that since the tribunal's inception, it had an excellent disposal rate of almost 100% between the years of 2001-2013. However, the disposal rate had dropped over the years."According to the TDSAT website's own pending cases report, there are a total of 5,104 cases which are pending before TDSAT wherein the oldest matter was filed before the Tribunal in 2012. This shows that the matters which are in the nature of recovery have not been disposed of even after 10 years", read the letter. .However, it was clarified that the tribunal could not be faulted for this since the number of matters filed increased, but the administrative staff or the members did not. "Such an undesirable situation has impeded the smooth functioning of the TDSAT and one can even say has crippled the TDSAT.".Additionally, it was pointed out that the concept of access to justice was etched in the Constitution, and the TDSAT being located in Delhi was depriving citizens from far away states due to the distance as well as the cost factor. .Wilson suggested that provisions be suitably amended to empower the tribunal's chairperson to communicate the number and type of staff required to the government, since only the chairperson would be able to judge these requirements. Wilson personally met the minister and delivered the letter..P Wilson has also long been a staunch advocate for setting up regional Benches of the Supreme Court.In September, 2021 he had wrote to Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju calling for the Central government's support to pass laws for setting up regional Supreme Court benches, and for increasing the age of High Court Judges from the present 62 years to 65 years..[Read Letter]