New tribunal reforms Bill may be introduced in monsoon session of parliament: Centre to Supreme Court

The Union government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that a new bill to regulate the functioning of tribunals is in the final stages of drafting and could be introduced during the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament.

The submission was made by Attorney General R Venkataramani before a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi.

The Court was hearing a matter related to the vacancies in tribunals. AG Venkataramani said,

"A new bill is in the offing. We are in the final stages. The tribunal reforms bill...we will try to push this during this session."

However, Justice Bagchi pointed out that the bill was not in the agenda of the monsoon session.

In response, the AG said,

"We will try to."

The Court had earlier asked the Central government to frame a uniform proposal on the functioning of tribunals across the country, stressing that these bodies cannot be allowed to become defunct.

In November 2025, the Bench of the then CJI BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran had struck down the provisions of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 on appointment and tenure of tribunal members, for being violative of its earlier judgments on the issue.

The top court had said that the provisions earlier struck down by the Supreme Court had been reintroduced by the Union government with minor tweaks.

The Court had then directed the Union government to constitute a National Tribunals Commission within four months.

"The creation of such a commission is an essential structural safeguard designed to ensure independence, transparency, and uniformity in the appointment, administration, and functioning of tribunals across the country. The repeated judicial insistence on this body reflects the Court’s recognition that piecemeal reforms cannot remedy the systemic deficiencies that have persisted for decades," it had said.